I Can't
by Fan Of Games
Summary: A collection of one-shots featuring everybody's favorite shy, timid, quiet Stake of Purgatory, Belphegor! Anything she can't do, get, or handle. Ange is included as well along with the other Stakes to some degree, if only to help poor Belphegor get through various situations she can't handle on her own.
1. I Can't Handle Tight Spaces

_I Can't Handle Tight Spaces_

Her eyes scanned the shopping list over, checking to see how many items they had left: one...two...three…Good; just three things left. Once they had those they were good to go. All they had to do was go to the register and pay for them, and then they could head back to Ange's manor.

Sure, they did live there too, but they were the witch's Furniture; they had no right to call it their own—actually, she didn't have the right to say that it was her home. Her sisters could say that, but not her.

They could also call themselves Ange's friends, but she didn't. It wasn't because Ange used the anti-magic to destroy them all back when she was in high school, even though she still was scared the witch would do it again.

Well, technically that was one of her reasons, but it was also because she was a withdrawn introvert; the shy, timid, quiet type who'd always keep to herself. She'd prefer to stay away from large groups of people and be alone; all by herself in the shadows. Nobody would think to look for her there, so she felt safe and secure knowing that she was hidden away from the world.

However…

"Cleanup in aisle seven!"

A crowded supermarket filled with customers looking to purchase food, and whatever household products they needed, wasn't the best place to hide.

For one thing, the voice of an employee on the loudspeaker would make her jump each time someone said anything in it. For another, there were too many people all over the store, pushing shopping carts around while filling them with what they were going to buy. For a third thing, the lines at the registers could be really long, which meant they'd have to wait on the end while the customers ahead of them piled stuff on top of the little conveyor belt so that the employee working the register could ring up the items and put them in bags—paper or plastic.

Oh, how she hated going shopping. It was a chore she didn't want to do, especially when all of her sisters and Ange were with her too. That was eight people in the group; there shouldn't have been that many people in just one group going to a store, but she couldn't complain about that.

She was one of the seven Stakes of Purgatory, the proud Furniture to Ange Ushiromiya, the last remaining member of her family.

She had no right to complain about her own problems. She was supposed to be there to serve Ange, not hinder her with petty complaints.

If the witch was doing something, she'd give her assistance; if the witch was going out somewhere, she'd go too; if the witch wasn't doing anything at all, she'd do her work for her.

She was all work and no play; the hard working perfectionist out of all her sisters. She worked to get things done and make others slothful.

That was who she was.

That was why she represented Sloth.

That was what made her the Stake of Sloth.

That was—

"Belphegor?"

Belphegor snapped back to attention when she heard Ange say her name. "U-Um, yes?" she asked softly, her voice nearly a whisper as she spoke. "D-Do you, uh, require something of me, Miss Ange?"

The witch cocked her head to the side in confusion with a somewhat worried look on her face. "Are you okay?"

Belphegor shyly blushed and tipped her head down to the list in her hands, only making eye contact by looking up through her bangs. While she sort of did appreciate her master's concern, she was feeling a little scared at having the attention foisted onto her. "U-Um, wh-what do you mean, Milady? I-I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're beginning to look a little pale, plus you're starting to fidget with the list just a bit."

Belphegor took that as a sign she wasn't allowed to hold the shopping list any longer. She had volunteered to do it so she wouldn't have to go into the long, thin aisles that were only wide enough for two carts to be pushed through.

They were like a death trap to her. The sides could suddenly close in on her, or she'd find herself trapped in between shopping carts with no way to escape. She could simply say "excuse me, may I get through, please," but she didn't want to disturb the other customers. She was, after all, proper Furniture.

"Really, I-I'm alright." She said as she held the list out to Ange with a trembling hand. "You don't have to worry about me, Miss Ange."

The witch looked at the list for a moment before taking it. "Alright, if you say you're fine, I'll trust you. But if there's anything wrong, you can talk to me about it, okay?"

Unsure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing, Belphegor just nodded timidly.

"Anyway," Ange continued, "can you help us find the right brand of tomato sauce? Asmodeus and I are trying to find the kind imported directly from Italy."

Ah, her master needed her to do something. Maybe she could take her mind off the store by letting the witch idle about while she searched for the tomato sauce.

Unfortunately, the aisle was scary. It was so long, and so thin, with a few carts in between the stands on either side. But even so, she didn't want to disobey her master.

"U-Um, as you wish, Miss Ange." Belphegor gave a shy bow before heading into the aisle.

She walked over to the middle of the aisle, where her youngest sister, Asmodeus, was and looked up at the top shelf, but the tomato sauce wasn't there.

She tried the next shelf, but still no tomato sauce.

Then the middle shelf.

Then the shelf underneath it.

Then—ah, there it was. She found the glass jars containing the right kind of tomato sauce on the bottom shelf.

Bending over so she could take a couple medium sized jars, she stood up straight and turned to put them in the cart Ange and Asmodeus were using…

But found that she was surrounded by the carts her other five sisters were using.

Instantly she started to panic, feeling as if she couldn't breathe. Her whole body began to tremble uncontrollably just as her breath got caught in her throat, while her complexion went from slightly pale to completely ashen. She could feel her heartbeat spike inside her chest just as she got chills and began sweating.

As she fell to her knees, the aisle started spinning around her just as the racks and the carts closed in on her. Her grip on the jars slackened, but they didn't shatter when they hit the floor because of how close they were to it.

There was nobody around to see that she needed to get out from that tiny little space.

There wasn't a soul there to move the carts away so she could leave the aisle and get out of the store.

She was going to suffocate!

She was going to die!

Falling on her side, Belphegor found herself entering the fetal position without realizing it; just as she didn't know she had begun to cry, or whimper.

So this was how it was going to end for her—dying of fright while lying in the fetal position on the floor, in an aisle in a supermarket.

She would've cried out for one of her sisters, or Ange, but was unable to, due to her predicament; however…

"Belphegor! Belphegor, are you alright?" She could hear Ange calling her, but she couldn't see her master anywhere. Her tears had blurred her vision, so she was partially blind to her surroundings, despite being slightly aware that the witch was helping her to her feet.

"Belphegor! Answer me! Say something!" Ange continued to call out as she gently shook the Stake of Sloth to snap her out of the frightful state she had entered.

"What's wrong with Belphe, Ange?" Asmodeus looked a little afraid, fearing that her older sister was having some sort of nervous breakdown. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know to be honest," Ange replied with concern as Belphegor's breath started coming out in ragged bursts, "but I think she's having a sudden panic attack."

"Is that…" Lucifer started to speak, but hesitated to continue. It was unlike her to show fear since she was the leader of the Stakes, but by being worried for her younger sister, she proved how good she was at being the oldest sister. Managing to clear her throat, she was able to finish her question. "Is that bad?"

"Very bad." Ange responded as she started to lead Belphegor out of the aisle. "It's an intense experience that's quite frightening and upsetting, as well as uncomfortable."

"Is there anything that we could do to help her?" Beelzebub inquired while Mammon giggled.

"Help her?" The Stake of Greed laughed while pointing her finger at Belphegor. "Just look at her! She looks like a nervous wreck! I bet she'll attract attention from everyone in the—"

Even though Belphegor was seriously disorientated, it was fortunate for her that Ange had grabbed Mammon by the collar of her jacket.

"Listen, Mammon," she growled viciously, "how'd you like it if we didn't care about you when you had a panic attack?"

The Stake of Greed looked a little afraid when her best friend had said such a thing. "N-No, I—" But she wasn't allowed to finish because Ange cut her off.

"Then I suggest you shut the hell up now. All you're doing is making it worse, as you always do. You're the same as those other girls back at St. Lucia's, and I'm this close," Ange took two fingers and brought them so close that a paper wouldn't be able to fit through the gap between them, "to calling our friendship off. Do you understand?"

Mammon shuddered and nodded while saluting the witch. "Y-Yes, of course, Ange! Whatever you say!"

Once Ange released her by shoving her back, she took Belphegor from Lucifer and went to the end of the aisle.

"Ange, where are you taking Belphe?" Leviathan asked as they passed her and Satan.

"I'm taking her outside to get some fresh air. Hopefully she'll feel a little bit better when she has more space." Taking her wallet out of a pocket inside her jacket, the witch handed it to the Stake of Envy. "Tell the others to bring the stuff to the register and pay for it, okay?"

"Alright." Satan replied while going off to tell her other four sisters.

A small smile appeared on Ange's face as she turned her head to look at them. She was glad to have friends who cared about her and would do things together with her.

Turning away, she brought Belphegor's pale, shivering form over to the front of the store, coming up to one of the employees at the register. A couple other customers, gave the poor Stake worried looks, but they didn't do anything to help since they saw that Ange was handling the problem.

"Excuse me," the witch casually asked, "may I just take a paper bag, please?"

The employee wasn't facing her, as he was busy with something else, but he could still hear her. "Sure, just pull it out."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

With the paper bag in hand, Ange walked out the entrance and brought Belphegor over to a bench up against the wall of the supermarket. Sitting the Stake of Sloth down, she sat next to her while bringing the bag closer to her friend's mouth. "Here, breathe into this. You'll start to feel a little better when you do."

Accepting the bag, Belphegor held it over her mouth and did as she was told. It took a few minutes, but soon she recovered just a bit. She still looked pale and was still trembling.

Ange put her hand on Belphegor's shoulder. "Are you okay?" She inquired with a worried look on her face. "Did something happen?"

Although she was gracious that Ange cared about her, the Stake of Sloth didn't know how to show it. However, she didn't want to worry Ange with her fear of tight spaces.

"N-No, nothing happened; I-I'm fine." She responded while handing the bag back to the witch.

Ange narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Then explain why you were lying on the floor in the fetal position." She spoke harshly, but when Belphegor blushed shyly and looked down at her lap, she let up and made no more insensitive comments.

"Alright, I'm sorry for saying that, but I need to know what's wrong so I can help you."

Belphegor looked up at her master from underneath her bangs. "I-Its okay; I-I can handle it myself. You don't have to worry about me, Miss Ange."

"But you're my friend. I don't want for anything to happen to you."

Noticing that her friend looked away from her without responding, Ange became a tad more concerned. Belphegor still seemed to have trouble forgiving her for using the anti-magic on her and her sisters back at St. Lucia's. The poor Stake must've been so scared to be around her.

Ange had to do something to make her feel comfortable. She needed to show her that she was a better person now, and prove that she could be trusted.

"Its okay, Belphegor." She continued while smiling warmly at the Stake of Sloth, "You can tell me if something's bothering you. I promise to do whatever I can to make it better. If you want me to keep it a secret, I will."

Belphegor remained unconvinced as she looked at her master again.

"You…d-do?" She asked after swallowing a lump in her throat.

"Of course; that's what friends are for."

Belphegor looked away again and took a deep breath.

If Ange wanted to listen to her, then she had to do as she was told.

The witch didn't see her as Furniture, but as a friend; however, Belphegor was uncomfortable with that. She just wasn't used to being cared about by others; it was an alien feeling to her. But for some odd reason, she felt that maybe the witch meant what she said.

Taking another deep breath, she hesitated just a little before she spoke. Her voice came out as a whisper, but she made sure that Ange could hear her.

"U-Um, o-okay…" she began, then paused for a couple seconds before continuing. "U-Um, I-I'm just, u-uh, extremely c-c-claustrophobic, that's all."

"So you're scared of enclosed spaces?" Ange inquired while Belphegor closed her eyes.

"I-I get really terrified when I-I'm confined in tight spaces, s-so when I-I get trapped, I-I lose it and freak out."

"Then do you want to stay home whenever we go out to places like this?"

That solution was perfect for Belphegor, except for the fact that she had to stay at Ange's side and protect her. It wasn't supposed to be the other way around.

"I-I would appreciate that, yes, b-but I-I need to go with you. I-It's my duty as your Furniture."

Ange took Belphegor's hands in her own and frowned. "No, Belphegor. You're not my Furniture; I said that you're my friend. I appreciate your concern, but I don't want you to do anything that places you in the center of these kinds of situations."

Belphegor looked away and blushed shyly, finding it uncomfortably awkward that Ange was holding her hands in such a way. "B-But you shouldn't have to worry about me! I-I don't want to trouble you by being a burden! I-I—" She began to speak really fast, like she always did whenever she had a conversation with someone; it was pretty much why she rarely said anything. Since nobody ever understood her when she talked that fast, she could tell that they just wanted her to shut up.

Ange raised her hands up to Belphegor's cheeks and stroked them gently. "Belphegor, slow down. Take it easy, or you'll have another panic attack."

The Stake of Sloth took that as her cue to shut up.

"Take a deep breath." The witch then instructed, watching as her friend inhaled deeply before exhaling. "Yes, that's it…deep breaths."

Belphegor continued to breathe deeply for a couple minutes just as Ange began patting her back softly. Eventually she felt fine, even though she was still anxious.

"Do you feel better now?" The Witch asked with a warm smile on her face.

"U-Um, a little." Belphegor replied shyly while bowing her head in gratitude. "U-Um, th-thank you?

"You're welcome." Ange placed her hand on the Stake's shoulder.

"Ange!"

The witch turned her head when she heard Lucifer call her name. "Oh, Lucifer, are you all done paying for everything?"

"Yes!" The Stake of Pride replied while her sisters began pushing the carts into the parking lot. "Amakusa's here to pick us up! It's time to head home!"

Ange breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that they didn't have to wait for that slacker to show up late. Sometimes he was a few minutes late because of traffic, while other times he would be around a quarter of an hour late due to playing some game over at the nearby arcade—which caused the cold stuff to melt a little from the heat, so Ange had to go back inside to ask if they could put all the cold stuff in a freezer so it could stay frozen—but there were times when he was either early, or right on time.

Turning back to Belphegor, she stood up and looked down at the Stake of Sloth while offering her hand. "Shall we go?" She asked as she smiled.

Belphegor accepted her hand and got up too.

As they both followed the other Stakes back to the car, Ange turned her head to Belphegor. "Oh, Belphegor."

The Stake of Sloth turned to look at her. "Yes, Miss Ange?"

"I'd like for you to rest for a few days so you could recover from your panic attack, okay?"

Even though it didn't seem like she had any choice in the matter, Belphegor could tell that wasn't an order. She knew that Ange was giving her a break from all the pressure she was always under.

While taking a few days off was unlike her, it didn't seem like a bad idea at all.

"Of course, Miss Ange; thank you."

Maybe she would take things easy from now on.

…

** Alright, alright, I know I had said that you wouldn't see one-shots from me anymore, but I've thought of some ideas for a collection of one-shots that I could work on when I find the time to. However, due to my other chapter stories, you probably won't see updates to this collection for any given length of time.**

** I've got an Umineko story to get back to, so I'm hoping to get to it soon after I finish some important things offline. There's also my Umineko-Amnesia: The Dark Descent series, which shall be combined into one big story, but I'd like to focus on that after I get another Umineko-Amnesia: The Dark Descent crossover story finished—hopefully before January, as it's going to be a short story; maybe a one-shot, or a short chapter story.**

** But anyway, while I was reading '**_Being Dysfunctional Has Never Been So Much Fun_**' by Renahh Chen (a great collection of one-shots I recommend reading), I had become inspired to make a one-shot collection of my own, so I'm going to try my hand at it and see how good it gets. **

**As I said above, I thought of some ideas to write about, but I may also take suggestions from others to see what they want. However, I came up with the following rules for suggestions:**

**People are limited up to a total of two suggestions. This isn't because I don't want any more suggestions than two, but because updates may be slow (also said above); and also because I probably won't get around to making another one-shot for the collection until some other time when I'm not working on other stories, or when I'm not too busy with other things.**

**Suggestions are to be appropriate. I will not accept ones that involve anything rated M, anything sexual, anything racist, and/or anything sexist. This collection is supposed to be a fun project I can do when I don't really have anything to do, or whenever I need time to think of how my other stories need to go. So please keep them appropriate.**

**As to when suggestions start appearing, I'm currently not sure if I'll work/upload them in between my own ideas, or after I finish with all the ideas I currently have. If you don't see a one-shot that you suggested right away, please be patient. I do my best when working on my stories, but I can't work on too many ideas at once, for I feel that would lead me to writer's block. However, if you want to read something else while you're waiting, feel free to visit my profile page and check out the stories I have already made. I haven't written too many stories, but they might be able to tide you over while you wait. Also, while you're visiting my profile page, be sure to read the news I have up there; while I don't update it daily, I still put something up or change something from time to time.**

**I'm aiming to have this collection focus on a specific character pairing for Umineko: Belphegor and Ange. I won't accept suggestions for other character pairings, but I can point you to Renahh Chen; she takes requests for stories and one-shots for her own collection, '**_Being Dysfunctional Has Never Been So Much Fun_**', so if you have any of those suggestions, go to her. I'll only accept Belphegor/Ange ones involving what Belphegor can't do, or what she can't get. Some examples are her not being able to understand something, being unable to do something, and/or being unable to handle something. The whole basic point of this collection is for her to feel and be helpless, and for Ange to help her. So please only make suggestions that involve that.**

**And that's about it for now. If I have anything else to say, I'll say so in the author's notes of a future one-shot in this collection.**

**I hope you enjoy reading it as I enjoy writing it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Umineko; it's owned by 007 Expansion.**


	2. I Can't Socialize, Part 1

_I Can't Socialize_

"He's coming…here?"

Her heart was beating rapidly.

Her complexion turned very pale.

Her whole body started shivering uncontrollably.

Her eyes grew wide as her pupils dilated.

Her whole face turned red while she began to sweat a little.

Belphegor couldn't believe what her master had just said.

"Yes, Belphegor, you heard me." Ange spoke with her arms crossed. "Okonogi is coming over for dinner."

"B-But why? I-I mean, surely he's busy with other things! He's the president of a major company, s-so-"

"Today's a holiday, so the people who work at his company have been given the day off—and that includes him."

"I-I know, b-but," Belphegor stammered as she continued to stutter some of her words, "why does he have to come here? Wouldn't he like to spend time with his family?"

Ange sighed as she walked over to the desk in her room and leaned her back against it. "Okonogi isn't married and his family is located in other parts of the country. He even has a few relatives who live overseas in other countries. Besides, we've made plans to have him over."

Belphegor became just a little more pale. "Y-You've made plans without even telling me?" She sounded very surprised and startled, as if someone played a scary joke on her.

"Yes, but I only did so because I didn't want to put you under so much stress and make you feel pressured."

"I-It's fine, Miss Ange. I-I understand why, b-but you still sh-should've told me s-so I-I could prepare myself and get everything ready and done beforehand."

"Alright, I'm sorry for keeping you out of the loop." Ange nodded in agreement as she apologized. "However, I couldn't tell you because you'd be working nonstop, right up to the point where you could pass out from exhaustion. You might get sick if you work so hard without rest."

Belphegor winced slightly, knowing that was always the case for her. As the Stake of Sloth, she always worked hard to do whatever task was assigned to her. Everything had to be in its proper place, everything had to be clean, and everything had to be perfect. There never was any time for rest; if she had to work through the night, she'd do so without sleep—with something to keep her awake.

That was one reason why, out of all her sisters, she was the only one who was always most likely to fall ill.

Opening her mouth to protest, Belphegor was stopped when the witch gestured for her to approach. As she did and came closer, despite becoming a little embarrassed, Ange slowly reached her arms out and drew the flustered Stake into a hug.

"Belphegor, you're my friend, and I only want the best for you. I don't want to put you in situations where you feel uncomfortable, okay?" She said whilst the Stake of Sloth shyly returned the hug, believing that it was the proper thing to do.

"U-Um, o-okay…th-then you don't mind if you meet Mr. Okonogi at a restaurant, instead of, u-um, here?"

Ange released Belphegor from the hug and placed her hand on the shy Stake's shoulder. "I don't mind, but you're coming with us."

"B-But, Miss Ange, one of us has to, u-uh, stay back to, u-um, guard the manor."

Ange narrowed her eyes and glared at the Stake of Sloth. "And you're going to volunteer to do that, again?" If she could turn people to stone with her cold voice, she'd be sort of like Medusa—except Medusa just used her looks, instead of speaking to her victims.

Belphegor jumped slightly when her master used that tone of voice against her. "U-Um, yes, i-if you want me to, I-I-" But she never got to finish because Ange covered her mouth to muffle her words.

"No, Belphegor, absolutely not. I let you stay back by yourself plenty of times before when I took your sisters out to see Okonogi, so I'm not going to let you do it this time. And don't even think about running away and hiding somewhere—I swear I'll tie you to a chair if it comes to that."

Belphegor looked down at her feet again, this time in shame. She just couldn't handle a meeting with other people, let alone someone as important as Okonogi. She was way too shy and timid to speak with others, or even socialize with them, but if her master wanted her to meet someone and have a conversation, she'd follow her orders straight to the letter.

Besides, Ange or one of her sisters might have to feed her if she was tied up. The mere thought of them doing that while an important person like Okonogi was visiting was so embarrassing and embarrassing—perhaps even a little terrifying.

Ange could see that she was making Belphegor feel very uncomfortable and maybe a little self-conscience about meeting Okonogi for the first time, but then again, the Stake of Sloth had always been that way around others. It wasn't Belphegor's fault for being so shy and timid; she couldn't help it because that was just who she was.

She hadn't wanted this conversation to turn out this way, but it did anyway.

In an effort to remedy the situation, Ange smiled warmly and slowly lifted Belphegor's head up so they could continue to make eye contact. "What would you like to do: eat here, or go to a restaurant?"

Belphegor hadn't expected the witch to give her a choice, but it seemed as if Ange was going to let her stay back after all, so why not take advantage of the opportunity. The Stake of Sloth felt so guilty about it, but her master did say she didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

Besides, eating out would mean that everybody else in the restaurant would stare at her if she did something wrong or stupid, or made a simple mistake. She couldn't handle that kind of pressure. The thought of being watched by a large group of people made her shiver. It was kind of scary how she always could upset herself over something like that.

So, Belphegor made her choice. "U-Um, I'd like to eat here-"

And then decided that it was a stupid mistake on her part. "B-But it's up to you if you wish to go out to eat, Miss Ange."

"Alright, here it is."

Relieved, Belphegor breathed easily as she began to feel a little calmer now.

"But Okonogi is still coming over."

Belphegor's eyes grew wide as she became really pale, looking as if she was about to have a heart attack. "WHAT?"

"Yes, that's right, Belphegor. No matter which choice you pick, we're still going to see Okonogi."

"But why? What's so important that you must see him?" If Belphegor was going to die of fright, now would've been a good time.

"Because he wants to meet you."

Belphegor's whole face turned even redder than when it was just a few minutes ago. "He wants…to…meet…me?" Her voice started to trail off until it died out.

Ange nodded. "Yep."

"Wh-When?" Belphegor voice was now nearly a whisper.

"Today."

"Today?" Feeling faint, Belphegor squeaked as she felt her legs would give way and make her collapse to the floor any moment.

Ange took notice and tightened her grasp on the shy Stake to keep her steady.

"Don't worry, Belphegor. I've already told your sisters to be on their best behavior while Okonogi is over. Besides, you'll be sitting between Asmodeus and I so the two of us can help you when you need it."

That didn't matter to Belphegor. What mattered was that she had to make herself presentable to Okonogi.

But first she had to find a quiet place so she could calm down and take in what Ange told her, without the risk of having a heart attack or falling unconscious.

…

The clock in the foyer said five twenty-eight on it; there were only two minutes left until Okonogi arrived.

Belphegor was standing in front of the front door, peering through the window so she could stare at the curved driveway by the left side of the front lawn.

"_H-He should be here any minute now."_ She thought to herself whilst swallowing a lump in her throat.

As the seconds passed, she became more and more anxious. _"Wh-Where is he? Wh-What if he's late? D-Do I-I look o-okay? He won't laugh at me, w-will he?"_

"Sit down, Belphegor."

Ange's sudden order jolted the Stake of Sloth out of her worried thoughts and made her jump slightly. "O-Oh, my apologies, Miss Ange; I-I'm sorry, I-I-"

Ange gestured for her to sit down beside her on the stairs. "It's alright, Belphegor; I understand that you're nervous, but there's no need to be shy. I said before that Asmodeus and I will sit next to you while we're eating."

"U-Um, o-okay, b-but…" Belphegor stuttered her words as she spoke while going over to take a seat by her master, hesitating a little before she continued. "U-Uh, how do I-I look?"

She held her arms out at her sides to show off the clothes she was attired in.

A small silly smile appeared on Ange's face as she giggled a little. "You look really cute! I'm sure that outfit will make a good impression!"

Instead of her regular formal outfit, she was wearing a black tee shirt with a light blue silk jacket over it, leaving the middle of it unzipped so the shirt could be seen. A light brown, smooth skirt went down to just above her knees with long black socks covering her legs. A big green bow had been placed carefully enough so that it could hang from the right side of her hair at a diagonal angle, whereas another bow of the same exact size and color was perched atop her head.

Earlier that afternoon, Belphegor had made a big fuss over what she needed to wear, saying that it needed to give Okonogi a good first impression of her. No matter how many times Ange said her formal outfit was fine, the Stake of Sloth still insisted on wearing something that looked presentable. So the witch lent her some clothes to make her stop complaining and told her to change into them about a half an hour before Okonogi arrived.

Belphegor did so, but only after she had showered to make herself clean. She didn't want to smell bad, as that contributed the impression she made on Okonogi. She wanted to make a good first impression, not one that showed how careless she was.

Before she had gone into the shower, the witch told her to not do her hair up into the ponytail she always put it up in. Belphegor found out why just after she had finished getting dressed.

When she had stepped out of the bathroom while attired in the clothes she was given, Asmodeus was waiting out in the hall for her. Before she could even ask her youngest sister if she needed to use the bathroom, the Stake of Lust took her by the hand and brought her into Ange's room.

There, Asmodeus led her to the chair in front of Ange's dresser and sat her down in it. Ange was standing next to the chair with a hairbrush in her hand, and from that and the bottle of red nail polish that was out on the dresser, as well as the two bows, Belphegor could figure out just what her master and her youngest were going to do.

The two of them were going to give her a _makeover_—Belphegor hadn't even known what a makeover was until they gave her one.

Embarrassed that it might've made her look humiliating, Belphegor tried to protest that maybe Ange and Asmodeus were taking things a little too far, but they didn't listen. They just told her to calm down, stay quiet, and sit still.

Ange brushed her hair, and Asmodeus painted her nails. All the while the two of them giggled while talking about how cute the Stake of Sloth looked.

Belphegor just blushed; embarrassed that she had been the center of a makeover project like that one.

She often wondered about what Ange and Asmodeus did together, and now she knew.

Ange usually looked unapproachable because of how cold she always seemed to be, but Belphegor knew that she was friendly, pleasant, and rather sociable, even if she appeared to be aloof and distant from others. The witch was also cynical and sarcastic at times, but that was just who she was.

Asmodeus, on the other hand, was the youngest of the Stakes, so it was expected that she'd act like a little child. Lately though, she was starting to be a lot like Ange, as if she looked at the witch as a role model.

But when they were getting Belphegor ready for dinner, they didn't act like they usually did. Instead, they were playfully acting like a couple of school girls having fun on a play date, talking about fashion and boys like a lot of schoolgirls did—actually all they talked about was how adorable Belphegor was, calling her by her nickname, 'Belphe'.

Belphegor didn't even know girls acted that way, but then again, there was a lot she didn't know about people in general, given that she was a withdrawn introvert and was incredibly shy and extremely timid.

When Ange and Asmodeus had finished, all of Belphegor's nails were red while her hair looked much neater than usual. It was still done up in the style it was usually in, but both her bangs and her ponytail looked more straight than ever.

All in all, she looked very pretty.

Belphegor was surprised at how pretty she was. By being such a hard working perfectionist, she never cared about her looks before. Now she was self-conscious about her appearance.

Maybe she would start to think about what to wear more often, instead of just throwing on the usual formal outfit that she and her sisters always wore without paying attention to all the other clothes in her closet.

But while looking pretty certainly made her feel good for some strange reason she didn't know of, it came with a very embarrassing price.

Upon looking at Belphegor, Ange and Asmodeus couldn't help but want to take pictures of her. Their giggling turned to playful laughter with each photo they took, complimenting the Stake of Sloth on how adorable she looked.

Belphegor felt as if she had been subjected to something much worse than the bullet Ange's father, Rudolf, had shot into her chest when he intended to shoot the new Beatrice, who was then a younger version of Ange's aunt, Eva.

Maybe she would've been spared the embarrassment if she hadn't complained about how she looked in the first place.

Fortunately her master and her youngest sister gave her a reprieve when the clock said five twenty-five. That gave them enough time to get downstairs so they could wait in the foyer for Okonogi to arrive.

Asmodeus had gone to the kitchen to see if everything was ready, but she said she'd be back just in time to greet Okonogi.

So, that just left Belphegor alone with Ange in the foyer, waiting for Okonogi to arrive. The Stake of Sloth couldn't help but worry about when he was going to be there and what he would think of her.

Would he praise her for giving off a good, first impression, or was he going to laugh at her?

Belphegor shuddered at the thought of him saying something that would've been expected from Ange and Asmodeus—from how they had acted before, to be specific.

While it was sort of nice to her that she was complimented on how she looked, Ange's compliment wasn't even helping her nerves settle down.

"Miss Ange, p-please!" Belphegor brought her hands together so the palms were up against each other. "I-I know it's not my place to ask, b-but may you please refrain from saying such things!"

Ange's smile turned into a small frown, but it didn't look like she was mad; it simply looked like she was a little confused. "Why? What's so wrong with me giving you a compliment?"

"N-No, i-it's not like that at all, Miss Ange! I-I do appreciate your help and the praise you gave me, b-but i-it's so embarrassing! P-Please desist; I implore you!"

Ange looked a little concerned when she saw how stressed out Belphegor was becoming. She could tell that she really wasn't easing the flustered Stake's nerves; she was just putting more and more pressure on her. "Alright, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you so upset."

"I-It's o-okay, b-but," Belphegor tipped her head down while shyly looking back at Ange through her bangs, "is it, u-um, necessary to make such comments?"

Ange shook her head. "Not really, but don't worry; I won't say anything like it while Okonogi's here."

Belphegor lifted her head up slightly. "U-Um, th-thank you, Miss Ange."

Turning her head to look at the clock hanging up on the wall, she could see that there was only one minute left till Okonogi arrived. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she hoped that everything went well. She didn't have much time that day to plan how she was going to act, or what she was going to say.

Okonogi would certainly ask her questions about herself so he could get to know her, but the Stake of Sloth believed that he heard enough about her already. Ange and her sisters, and maybe even Amakusa, might've told him what she was like. Perhaps that was what made him want to meet her face to face, to see the Stake he had heard so much about.

In an instant, Belphegor's thoughts turned towards what was said of her. Was she highly spoken of with much praise, or did Okonogi hear about how shy and timid she was?

Either way she'd be embarrassed; she wasn't used to receiving praise and to be treated with kindness, and she was scared that a stranger—someone she didn't know at all—would know what her faults were. Her greatest flaws of all were her shyness, her timidity, and her incapability to socialize. If someone she had never met knew those three flaws, the person could laugh at her for being such a withdrawn introvert.

People like her were always targets of bullies because they were scared to ask for help. Nothing would ever be done unless they came forward to tell someone about what was happening to them, and they had to speak up before things got worse.

Belphegor knew she could never do something like that. She was way too terrified to even approach someone, even if it was a person she knew really well. That was why she would always find a place to hide so she could be alone, but maybe that was what made others search for her, if only to hear about how the work she did was going.

She was so confused about the whole concept of having sisters and friends who cared about her, that she'd feel tongue-tied whenever they were concerned for her—her stomach churning with dread as her whole body trembled violently whilst her complexion turned pale, her heartbeat spiking in her chest with her breath catching in her throat as she began to sweat.

Even being with just one person made her really anxious, so it was hard to imagine what it was like when she lived in the same manor with six other siblings, plus the witch they all served—though said siblings were all friends with said witch.

She still wasn't used to being around Ange, and even though she knew her sisters really well, she still felt like an outcast among them. They all did things together and had fun, but she was always alone, all by herself with her own devices. That was a reason why she was never up to date on current events, which in turn was a reason for others to exclude her from the social forms of life: conversation, parties, and other social gatherings; all of which she had never participated in or even attended, except for when she was speaking about her work.

It was no surprise to Belphegor that her thoughts had turned from the dinner and meeting Okonogi to ones of more productive matters. Allowing herself the luxury of becoming lost in those thoughts of work, she desperately wished that it would've turned out differently. If Okonogi wasn't coming, but everyone else went to meet him, she could remain behind and continue to do her work.

All of her tasks had been the same as those of Reinon's, the servant who her human form had been based on. Back when she used to work on Rokkenjima Island, Reinon had mopped the floors; vacuumed the rugs; dusted off the furniture; did laundry; set the dining room table whenever meals were to be served; and served said meals along with drinks.

Belphegor had never known Reinon, or even met her, but she had been told that both her human form and her personality were exactly the same as the young servant girl's were.

For some odd reason, she found herself wondering how Reinon was doing…

"Belphe?"

A small squeak escaped Belphegor's mouth as she jumped in fright.

"Are you alright, Belphe?" Her youngest sister, Asmodeus asked in concern as she stepped up to her older sister. "You're starting to become very pale."

Belphegor took a deep breath and shuddered slightly. "N-No, i-it-s o-okay; I-I was just th-thinking, th-that's all." She stuttered her words while shaking her head.

"About what?" Asmodeus asked, but turned to look at Ange when she felt the witch's hand on her shoulder.

"Let's not put any more pressure on her, Asmo; she's already stressed enough about dinner." Ange said while the young Stake nodded.

"Okay."

Immediately Ange sat back down on the stairs with her arms held out with a friendly smile on her face as she gestured for Asmodeus to sit on her lap.

The Stake of Lust smiled back as she eagerly accepted the invitation. As Ange wrapped her arms around her, they both looked at each other and giggled while closing their eyes.

Belphegor knew they weren't playfully teasing her, so she felt a little more at ease. She knew that Ange and Asmodeus had formed a very strong sisterly bond shortly after the witch had been reunited with them, but she was slightly surprised that it had been formed in such a short amount of time. Usually it took quite a long time for a sibling bond to grow between two people, but Ange and Asmodeus were apparently perfect for each other.

The love shared by siblings could never be broken since they'd always be there for each other; Ange and Asmodeus certainly pulled that off quite well—much better than all of the older Stakes.

As the oldest of them, Lucifer was far too busy to handle all six of her younger siblings at once, but she mostly had to keep Mammon from taunting Satan to the point where the Stake of Wrath would slaughter the Stake of Greed.

Leviathan was always focused on trying to be better at something than her sisters, but she was lenient in that regard and would accept being as good as some of them. After many years of coming up short, she had finally found something that she could do which all of her other sisters couldn't do: woodworking. It was an odd hobby and one that nobody expected her to take up, but as it came naturally to her, she found that it was a sort of hidden talent she never knew she had; all of the things she made were proof of that.

Being the short-tempered sister out of all the Stakes, Satan most often would yell at her sisters for whatever reason, but she mostly shouted at Mammon for teasing her. She was the one who would most likely—if given the chance—murder the Stake of Greed if Lucifer wasn't there to restrain her.

Because she was too obsessed with food, Beelzebub would most likely be found in the kitchen. That was to be expected of her since she was the Stake of Gluttony; however she was spending less time there because Ange had already locked the fridge door—and the freezer door—as well as wrap actual chains around it to keep Beelzebub from stealing food; she even did the same with the cupboards.

Their greedy, selfish, immature sister, Mammon, used to be a little shit. All she cared about was having everything to herself, and that included Ange. However, when Asmodeus nearly ran away from home after the Stake of Greed constantly bullied her relentlessly, Ange became enraged. That was when Mammon realized that she had been just like the bullies who had tormented Ange back when she was at St. Lucia high school. She did stop bullying her youngest sister, but her friendship with Ange was on thin ice. Not wanting to run the risk of doing something that could end it, Mammon no longer spent as much time with the witch like she usually did; instead she decided to focus on her competitive streak with Beelzebub. That gave both of them something to do so they could get their minds off their respective problems.

Due to her hard work and her need for perfection, Belphegor didn't have any time to spare for Asmodeus; but then again, she never had any time to spare at all.

With so many things preoccupying them, all six of the older Stakes couldn't make time for their youngest sister. Having been left out for so long, ever since all of them were created, Asmodeus was starting to feel that she wasn't needed and that she didn't belong.

But when Ange offered to be her older sister, the Stake of Lust was so happy that she immediately accepted. That was how their sisterly bond began, and from then on they did a lot together: playing games, staying up late to watch a movie or two, and even share the same room—something Mammon would've been expected to do back when she wanted Ange all to herself.

Actually, Asmodeus had to share Ange's room with her anyway because there weren't any more guestrooms to take. There were only four bedrooms for guests, one for the witch's brother, and another for her parents. Lucifer, Mammon, Satan, and Beelzebub all claimed the guestrooms; Leviathan took the room where Rudolf and Kyrie once slept in back when they were still alive; and Belphegor got Battler's old room.

As Belphegor looked upon her master and her younger sister, she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous that Asmodeus was that close to Ange—but she also couldn't help herself suppress a slight shudder.

While it was good that they shared a sisterly bond, Belphegor found it to also be a little scary since it could explain their earlier behavior towards her when they gave her a little makeover and took pictures.

That had been one of the worst times of her life—even worse than when she shielded a certain, ungrateful witch—her own master, even though it pained Belphegor to call her that—from a bullet that pierced her chest.

Though to tell the truth, Ange's aunt had a reason for being ungrateful. During the whole fight between her and Rudolf, Belphegor hadn't even materialized her blade, or even turned into a Stake—which she didn't want to do anyway because of her claustrophobia. All she did was teleport throughout the entire hall as she waited for him to run out of bullets. That would provide her with an opportune moment so she could dispatch him by suffocation.

Belphegor looked down at the floor in shame. _"Maybe she was right…maybe I am useless Furniture…"_

The sudden ring of the doorbell suddenly startled her, making her squeak in fear.

"Looks like he's here." Ange said as she and Asmodeus got up and went over to the door.

Belphegor swallowed a large lump in her throat. Her whole body started trembling just as her complexion turned really pale. _"O-Okay, focus, Belphegor…focus. Don't dwell on that witch any longer; you're not useless." _She thought to herself in an attempt to try encouraging herself._ "You can do this. I-It's not real hard. Just greet him properly and you'll do fine."_

Feeling that she was now ready for her first meeting with Okonogi, the Stake of Sloth closed her eyes and took a deep breath while she followed her master and her youngest sister.

She could do this.

She wouldn't get scared or act shy.

She would be confident and believe in herself.

She was proud Furniture to Ange Ushiromiya, the Golden Witch.

She—

Belphegor opened her eyes and suddenly froze right in her tracks by Ange and Asmodeus.

A middle-aged man was standing right outside, under the lamp illuminating the front porch with light. He was dressed in a blue suit with his hair done up in a short ponytail hanging at the back of his head.

Feeling her heart beat just a tad bit faster, Belphegor slowly turned pale as she began to tremble. _"Wh-Who i-is th-that man? Wh-What i-is he doing here?"_

There was no doubt about it.

This man was a _stranger_, someone Belphegor didn't know.

The moment she had laid eyes upon him, all of her confidence drained away until there was nothing left; her belief in herself shattered into pieces before turning to dust, just as her glassy form might've done when Ange denied the existence of her and her sisters back at St. Lucia's.

She couldn't do this!

She wasn't the proud Furniture she thought she was!

She was just a frightened, shy little girl who had no friends and would always be alone!

Belphegor wanted to go find a corner somewhere in the shadows, where nobody would see her, and just crawl into whatever little hole was there. It was a shell she had formed for herself when placed in social situations—and other unrelated situations—like this one, and it was perhaps the safest place she'd feel comfortable in.

Unfortunately, she couldn't do that, not when she was already prepared—in regards to her appearance, of course; after all, that was a quality which left a good first impression on others.

As to her mental state, it was in shambles, maybe even worse.

This man couldn't be Okonogi…could he?

"Greetings and salutations, lady! I'm ever so grateful to be invited to such a prestigious dinner party you're holding!"

Belphegor's heartbeat spiked in her chest, and it was a rather painful spike at that as it nearly skipped a beat.

_Amakusa was here too!_

Who invited him?

Did Ange give him permission to attend the dinner as well, or was it some sort of prank that one of her sisters was pulling on her?

Were they actually _trying_ to ruin it for her by embarrassing her in front of Okonogi?

Ange sighed in frustration. "And we're ever so angry that you had to come _uninvited._"

"What?" Amakusa sheepishly grinned while he laughed. "You know I wouldn't miss an opportunity to see you, lady. I must say, you're looking fabulous as ever."

"And you're just as stupid and annoying as ever." Asmodeus countered, causing Amakusa to feign wounded pride.

"Aww, what's that for? A young lady like you shouldn't be all childish like that."

"And someone like you shouldn't be all talkative, stupid, and annoying." Ange retorted coldly.

Amakusa just showed off one of his usual smiles. "Well, excuse me for wanting to have some fun."

"Which you have way too much of." Asmodeus said while crossing her arms and sticking her nose up in the air as she turned her head. Her rude, ladylike comment and her sophisticated attitude just made Amakusa laugh.

"You know, you're becoming just like lady! I can see how much of a role model she's—"

But Amakusa didn't finish, nor did he even want to anymore.

Ange and Asmodeus were growling at him, and not in the way someone usually did when anger was directed at someone else. The way they were growling was exactly the way little dogs growled when they felt like ripping whoever or whatever into little pieces with their teeth.

Ange and Asmodeus were literally showing their own teeth, just like those little dogs did, and Amakusa was their intended victim. If they were little dogs, they most certainly would be shih tzus—Persians, if they were cats. Maybe they were both.

Amakusa just took a step back, pretending that he was scared of the two girls before him—though maybe he actually was a little afraid. Calling Ange and Asmodeus a pair of pampered princesses would definitely be a mistake—and his own death warrant, which he'd be signing by saying that so he could have his death wish granted.

In any case, he turned his attention from them to the other Stake in the room, who had apparently stayed silent during the whole conversation that took place.

"Well, hello there, Belphe. How are you doing on this fine evening?" He said, most likely flirting with her as well, considering how he did that with a lot of ladies—and was awarded with an equal number of rejections.

Belphegor felt as if she was on the verge of a heart attack. She didn't know who the other man was, but if he was with Amakusa, he must've been some sort of friend of his. Maybe he was his boss, which meant he really was Okonogi.

The Stake of Sloth couldn't afford to screw up in front of him. This was going to be her first meeting with the man, and she didn't want the whole dinner to turn awful.

Amakusa, however, didn't seem to know that—or maybe he did, and was just doing whatever he was doing on purpose. "Aww, what's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" He opened his eyes with a gentle smile on his face—no doubt a tactic he used on all the ladies he knew, except for Ange, since she was most likely to kill him if he tried such a move on her. "You know, you look exactly like a modern day 'Alice in Wonderland'."

Belphegor felt her heart sink deeper into a pit of despair as her whole face turned red with embarrassment.

He called her…_a modern day 'Alice in Wonderland'._

That was exactly what Ange and Asmodeus called her while they had been taking pictures of her before. It was so humiliating to be called something like that, and for someone like Amakusa to just call her the very same thing, it made Belphegor extremely uncomfortable. Her level of embarrassment was almost off the charts; just one more centimeter, and it would break through the border of the graph.

Luckily for her, Ange and Asmodeus began to drag Amakusa's sorry ass towards the front door.

"What, lady? Don't tell me you're kicking me out now? I just got here." He protested humorously, still trying to crack a joke.

"And you've already overstayed your welcome, so goodbye." Ange said as she and Asmodeus were just about to throw him out. However, they never got the chance to because the man stepped in front of them.

"Hold on a moment, Ange." He said as he looked down upon them. His eyes were closed, and he sounded apologetic. "Juza's only here because he drove me over; my car's getting repaired, and I had no other means of transportation. I apologize for his behavior and for allowing him to attend without your permission, but I didn't have enough time to call you so I could inform you of the slight change in plans."

A slight change in plans? It was more like a slight addition to them.

"If you would be so kind," the man continued, "please allow him to stay. I assure you he won't act in such an unkempt manner for the brief duration of our stay here."

Ange and Asmodeus released their grip on Amakusa and stepped away from them, beginning to whisper to each other so as to come to a decision. Several moments later, they turned back to the two men when their minds were made up about the final decision.

Ange held up one index finger. "He may stay inside on one condition."

"He keeps his mouth shut so he won't make any more stupid comments." Asmodeus said as she crossed her arms while taking a step closer to Ange.

"And if he does speak, he's out." Ange finished.

If Amakusa thought the other man was going to object to that term, he was wrong.

The older man simply nodded in agreement. "Very well." He said before he turned to Amakusa. "You understand, don't you Juza?"

The smile on Amakusa's mouth never turned into a frown. He just nodded too before walking off towards the dining room.

Belphegor had always found him to be a little confusing. People generally didn't like it when they were insulted, as she believed, despite not knowing anything at all about other people, but the more Ange and Asmodeus insulted him, the more he seemed to respect them. Maybe that's why he favored the two of them over any other girl that had insulted him.

"Belphegor."

Turning her head back to Ange when she heard name spoken, the Stake of Sloth saw that her master was standing right in front of her, alongside Asmodeus. "Y-Yes, Miss Ange?"

"Just do what we do." Her younger sister whispered before she and the witch turned around and stepped over to Okonogi.

Belphegor followed them so she could see what it was they were doing.

Letting their arms fall to their sides, Ange gently pinched the bottom edge of her miniskirt as Asmodeus did the same with the two black flaps of her outfit which were closer to her arm. Lifting them up just a centimeter with smiles on their faces while their eyes were closed, they curtsied gracefully, both of them putting one foot behind the other.

"Greetings, Mr. Okonogi." They said in perfect sync, as if they were identical twins. "Welcome to our humble abode."

It was amazing how they were able to do that so well. It was just a simple greeting, but Ange and Asmodeus had done it properly, as it was supposed to be given to someone as important as Okonogi. Even better, they had acted like proper ladies, which was something Belphegor had expected from Ange, but from her youngest sister.

The two of them really worked well together, their words and actions complimenting each other's style. Their playful behavior earlier, their scorn for Amakusa—and towards him—and their respect for Okonogi; everything they did together was pulled off perfectly.

Belphegor could only stare at her master and youngest sister in awe, completely surprised that their sisterly bond was so strong and graceful at the same time. From the display she had just seen, she knew that nothing would ever be able to damage that bond.

Ange and Asmodeus turned to her. "Now it's your turn." The former of the two said as they gently nudged the Stake of Sloth forward into the lion's den.

This was it.

Now it was Belphegor's turn to curtsey and give Okonogi a proper greeting.

It looked so easy to do, but then again, nothing was ever so simple.

No matter how hard Belphegor tried to calm her nerves, to stop trembling so much and to turn her complexion back to normal—if that was possible—she still was the shy, timid, withdrawn introvert. She was fighting a losing battle against her own self, but it hadn't even begun because she was too frightened to even show up.

Sweat trickled down her now-bright red face as she tried to follow the example Ange and Asmodeus set. She had heard the words not even a minute ago, but she already forgot every single one of them.

_"F-Focus B-Belphegor; i-it's n-not r-real h-hard."_ Her mind made an attempt to encourage her, but the stuttered words were already lost, having fallen on deaf ears. _"E-Everyone e-else t-trusts h-him, s-so y-you c-can t-too. J-Just d-do a-as th-they d-did…d-do a-as th-they d-did…"_

And so, after what seemed like a long war against her shy, timid side, Belphegor lowered her trembling arms to her sides. Gently pinching the bottom edge of her own skirt, she lifted it up just a bit and curtsied.

She was doing it!

She was actually doing it!

Belphegor was doing exactly the same thing her master and her youngest sister had done, and she managed to do almost as perfect as they did. She didn't smile, nor did she stop trembling uncontrollably, but those mistakes could possibly be overlooked.

With a new surge of confidence coursing through her veins, the words all came back to her.

"_Greetings, Mr. Okonogi. Welcome to our humble abode."_

That was it!

That was all she had to say for the greeting!

Just those simple words and she was done with what was perhaps one of the hardest things to do when guests arrived.

With her heart beating faster than ever, Belphegor opened her mouth to greet Okonogi, the man she was meeting for the very first time…

And stopped short just as her breath caught in her throat.

The words were right there! She just had to say them! So why was she hesitating so badly?

At that point, Belphegor knew it was hopeless because she already knew the answer to the question was herself; not her hard working perfectionist self, but her shy, timid, withdrawn, antisocial self.

She could never be social; never attend parties or host them; never meet others; and never make friends. It was all because of her that she was an embarrassment to Ange and all of her sisters, and the same went for everyone else she knew.

Maybe Eva Ushiromiya was right; maybe she was useless.

In a desperate attempt to save face on her master's part, and her sisters' part too, Belphegor just quietly babbled like a complete idiot and quickly shut up, immediately getting behind Ange so she could hide from Okonogi. She felt so ashamed that she was using the witch, her own master, as a shield from having to be social, but what else could she do? Attempt to give a proper greeting one more time? She'd rather crawl back into her protective shell then do that.

When Ange had turned her head back to look at her, Belphegor expected her to be mad, but there was not a single shred of anger expressed on the witch's face.

She didn't even look disappointed. If anything, Ange's facial expression was melancholic, understanding.

"U-Um…" Belphegor clung onto her master's arm and looked at the floor. "I-I'm s-sorry…M-Miss A-Ange…" She whispered out, frightened that she was just making things worse.

"It's alright, Belphegor; I'm not mad at you. You tried your best." The witch replied as Asmodeus began to gently rub her older sister's back to provide some comfort.

"I-I…d-did?"

"Of course you did." Okonogi spoke up, causing the shy Stake to flinch fearfully. "I understand this is hard for you, so you don't have to do something you don't want to do. A simple nod of the head would be sufficient enough."

As he spoke, Belphegor started to slowly feel just a tiny, tiny bit better.

Okonogi knew that she was a withdrawn introvert, but he wasn't laughing at her, or forcing her to give a proper greeting—something Satan would do if she was here. Instead, his words and his facial expression had the exact same meaning as Ange's did.

He, a complete stranger Belphegor had never met once in her life, understood how she felt, and as he said, he wasn't going to force her to do anything that she didn't want to do.

"U-Um, o-okay…" Belphegor spoke up, her voice rising in pitch only slightly as a small amount of confidence rose within her. "Th-thank y-you s-sir…?"

Despite having expressed her gratitude as a question, she felt that maybe having him over for dinner wasn't going to be as bad as she thought it was.

Okonogi understood her, so perhaps she could take a chance and trust him.

Maybe socializing wasn't going to be so bad after all—as long as she didn't get too involved in conversation.

…

**Well, that's the end of this long one-shot. It's not as short as the other one-shot was, but I guess some one-shots in this collection may turn out to take longer than others. I never intended to make it so long when I started working on it, but either way, I'm pleased with how it turned out.**

**Something I tried to do with this one-shot was show a side of the sisterly bond between Ange and Asmodeus that I don't think I showed in the other stories that mentioned their bond. I do remember the last chapter of '**_Mental Trauma_**' showing this side, but only for a brief moment. In this one-shot, I tried to make it more adorable so it could appease to anyone who likes Ange and Asmodeus. I'd appreciate any feedback about how I did with their sisterly bond: was it cute enough, do I need to make it cuter, or should I not make it cute in any way at all?**

**I'm still working on the one Ange/Asmodeus story that's about their sisterly bond, but I haven't even gotten around to working on the Amnesia: Dark Descent story with them as the character pairing; so if you're also a fan of Amnesia: Dark Descent, don't worry. I'm sure I'll get to work on it while continuing work for the other Ange/Asmodeus story.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this one-shot as I did while working on it.**


	3. I Can't Socialize, Part 2

_I Can't Socialize—Part 2_

The night was peaceful with the full moon up in the sky, partially hidden from view by a few clouds passing in front of it.

The evening had gone well, and not a single problem occurred during dinner.

Her sisters had all kept quiet while she was conversing with Okonogi, not making a huge fuss or caused any trouble.

He had asked her questions about herself, what it was like back when she was a servant of Beatrice, and how things were going now that she was with Ange. She had a little bit of trouble providing him with suitable answers since she was still very shy, but Ange and Asmodeus had helped her like the witch said they would.

Once, when she was trying to think of what Okonogi had meant by a question he had asked about her work, Amakusa spoke up, despite being told not to. However, when he did, it wasn't to tease her or make some stupid flirty comment; it was to make the question a little clearer for her to understand. Although they glared at him angrily, Ange and Asmodeus chose to let it slide.

Of course, when Okonogi did bring up her work, the one topic she was most comfortable speaking about, she didn't omit a single detail. It was all basic stuff actually, chores that anyone could do, but she had her own methods when toiling away at her duties. At one point when she was discussing one of the tasks she did well, Okonogi had taken out a small notepad and a pen so he could take some notes, explain that the servant of one of his relatives overseas could make good use of the tips.

Belphegor didn't mind at all when he did that, so long as she could be of some use to him. After all, she was Furniture, and it was her duty to serve others—specifically her master, but if other people could benefit from her deeds, then she did her job properly. After all, Ange was a White Witch, and the purpose of a White Witch was to help others in need, so her master's purpose was her purpose too.

And now that the dinner was over, Okonogi had to leave so he could return home to get some rest for the next day of work.

So as proper Furniture, Belphegor took it upon herself to see him and Amakusa off. Since the only reason he had for coming was to meet her, it was logical that she should be the one to show them to the door. After all, it was good manners and proper etiquette to do so.

"U-Um…" She said while giving a shy bow before them, stuttering some of her words. "Th-Thank you f-for, u-um, finding th-the, u-uh time to, u-um, visit."

Okonogi smiled warmly at her as he returned the bow. "It was my pleasure. I hope to be able to come again soon."

"Yeah, same here." Amakusa spoke up while flashing her one of the smiles he used when he was grateful for something. "I really appreciate that you'd let a guy like me attend such a prestigious dinner party."

"B-But i-it wasn't, u-um, like that a-at all, actually, since there weren't u-um, a-a lot of p-people here." Belphegor fiddled with her fingers as she made eye contact from under her bangs.

"Oh, then what was it like?" He playfully countered while coking his head to the side, using the same flirty tone he used on all the girls he met.

Belphegor's whole face turned bright red since she knew exactly what he was referring to. "N-No! I-It—I-I-I, u-um, u-uh, w-well, u-um—y-you s-see—"

"Whoa, take it easy." Amakusa innocently held his hands out with the palms facing her. "I'm only teasing you. There's no need to get so worked up over a simple joke."

Even though he had intended to reassure her that it wasn't his intention to make her feel embarrassed, Belphegor's blush became even brighter. It wasn't just because he had teased her by flirting with her; it was also because she had fallen for such a joke.

While she was the most serious out of all the Stakes, she was also in fact the most gullible of them. It was strange, really, how a shy, timid girl like her could be so naïve to the point where she believed anything other people said. No wonder why Mammon, Beelzebub, and Leviathan always took advantage of every opportunity to tease her by making her do and say stupid things.

"Well, she didn't think you were joking, Juza. You should apologize to her right now." Okonogi sternly said as he turned to glare at Amakusa.

"Alright, okay, I'm sorry." Amakusa grinned sheepishly while sticking his hands in his pockets. "I didn't mean to make you so embarrassed."

"I-Its f-fine; I-I understand." Belphegor said nervously as she averted her eyes to break eye contact. "U-Um, anyway, w-would you, uh, like m-me t-to tell everyone that you s-said good-bye?"

"Yes, please do." Okonogi said while nodding his head.

"Oh, and do you think you could take a message?" Amakusa then asked.

Belphegor nodded. "Y-Yes, wh-what shall I-I say?"

"That I'll see them soon, but don't tell all of them that, okay?"

Belphegor looked a little confused. "U-Um, o-okay…then who should I-I tell?"

"My favorite pair of pampered princesses."

And with that, Amakusa quickly turned around, threw open the door, and ran away out, forgetting to close the door behind him.

That made Belphegor even more confused, but she didn't even have time to say anything because she was nearly bowled over forwards by two strangely distinct blurs leaving dust clouds behind them.

Fortunately, Okonogi was there in time to catch her so she didn't fall. "Are you alright?" he asked as she shook her head to clear away the dizzy spell that had now befallen her.

"U-Um, I-I think so…" Belphegor whispered quietly, making sure she was still loud enough for him to hear her. "U-Uh, y-yeah…U-Um, th-thank you, M-Mr. Okonogi." To show her gratitude and her respect, she gave another shy bow as soon as she felt like the room wasn't spinning around her.

"You're quite welcome." Okonogi said before turning to go out the door, but he turned around when the doorknob was in his grasp. "It was a pleasure to finally be able to meet you, Belphegor. You should come by my office the next time you, your sisters, and Ange are in the area, so long as it's convenient of course."

"Y-Yes, of course." Belphegor bowed again, unsure if it was the proper way to express gratitude for an invitation like that. "I-I'm sure Miss Ange would like to."

Okonogi stood in the threshold of the door for a few moments, nodding as she smiled at her. "Anyway," he began to while starting to close the door behind him, "I'd better get going as soon as I clean up what's left of Juza."

"O-Okay, u-um, bye, M-Mr. Okonogi. W-We'll see you soon." Belphegor waved to him as he waved back before the door shut.

Turning around, she breathed a sigh of relief as she began to head back to her room. _"Well I-I'm glad that turned out well; maybe I-I should go with Miss Ange the next time she brings my sisters when she visits him."_

From how her meeting with him at dinner went, she felt sure that she could take him up on his offer. She had been a little curious about what went on in an office building, so perhaps this could give her an opportunity to learn about it—and how to socialize as well.

…

Okonogi sighed as he walked over to the oak tree in Ange's front yard. "You just had to push it, didn't you Juza."

When he had closed the door behind him, the two 'pampered princesses' were still furiously clawing at the tree Amakusa had climbed up in order to escape from them.

And when he got closer to the tree, he could see that the 'pampered princesses' had done quite a bit of damage to the poor, defenseless tree. The side they were clawing at was now barely recognizable; the surface of it looked more like sandpaper than it did before it was clawed.

Okonogi sighed again.

If there was one thing he knew about Amakusa, it was that the guy had a knack for saying the right words…

"You just had to push it."

…To piss off Ange and Asmodeus.

…

While on her way back to her bedroom so she could change into her nightgown, Belphegor had stopped right in Lucifer's room for just a minute. The door was open and her oldest sister wasn't around since she and the other six Stakes—actually it was five Stakes—were still cleaning up after dinner.

Belphegor didn't like entering other people's rooms without permission since it was rude to just go in unannounced without any form of authorization. However, there was a large mirror hanging up on the wall, and for whatever strange, she felt like admiring herself in it. The reflection of her wearing the clothes Ange had lent her was strangely…appeasing.

Blushing with a silly smile on her face, making sure that it wasn't too big, she struck a pose by turning to the side and lifting her left foot up so that her toes were the only part touching the floor. Bringing her hands together with the palms pressed up against each other while her fingers were pointing up, she continued to stare at herself in the mirror before she closed her eyes and giggled, thinking that maybe she could take a few breaks from work and do this more often—only when she was home alone of course.

For once in her life, she felt like she was a normal girl instead of the shy, timid, withdrawn introvert she came to be known as. It was an alien feeling to her, but was also a satisfying one since she came to like her current appearance. The idea of wearing fashionable clothes and going out in public to socialize with others was now starting to sound quite appealing to her.

Still giggling like a girl who had fallen for her first love—something that she actually expected from Asmodeus—she put her foot back on the floor and turned to head out the door but just as she was about to go down the hallway—

"Oooh, Belpheee…"

A small squeak escaped Belphegor's mouth as she jumped, chills going down her spine as dread crept up her skin.

What made this moment so scary was that she recognized those voices, those two voices that spoke in perfect sync, and became frightened that they had heard her. But what made it even more terrifying was that they both could have _seen_ her in Lucifer's room, as well.

Slowly, Belphegor turned around as her whole body started trembling uncontrollably just as her complexion turned ashen.

There, standing just about seven inches away from…

…_were Ange and Asmodeus._

The former of the two was standing behind the latter with her arms wrapped around her and her head resting atop of hers, while the youngest Stake was holding a camera in her hands.

Amazingly, their fingers were still perfectly fine, unscathed from when they were furiously clawing at the tree a certain idiot had climbed up.

How Okonogi had managed to get them away from the tree and rescue that idiot was a complete mystery to only anyone who hadn't seen what went on.

"O-O-Oh, M-M-Miss A-A-Ange, A-A-Asmo…U-U-Um h-h-hello…U-U-Um" Belphegor stuttered her words fearfully, horrified that her master and her youngest sibling were going to take more pictures. "I-I-Is th-th-there s-s-something w-w-with wh-wh-which I-I-I m-m-may a-a-assist y-y-you?" She asked timidly, even though she already knew the answer to her question.

"Oh, nothing much really." Asmodeus replied while slightly cocking her head to the side, her eyes closed with a rather wide, silly smile on her face. "We just wanted to take more pictures of you, that's all."

Yep, Belphegor was right, given how it was so obvious.

"W-W-Well, I-I-I'm s-s-sorry t-t-to, u-u-uh, s-s-say, b-b-but, u-u-um, I-I-I h-h-have t-t-to b-b-be, u-u-uh, g-g-going n-n-now, s-s-so, u-u-uh—"

The wide, silly smile on Ange's face turned into a frown as she opened her eyes, looking rather disappointed that she and Asmodeus couldn't take pictures of Belphegor. "You mean you won't pose for us again?"

Almost instantaneously, Belphegor whirled around and ran down the hall as fast as she could, uttering a hasty "P-P-Please e-e-excuse m-m-me!" as she darted off at an amazing speed.

Ange and Asmodeus were left alone and were looking very disappointed.

"Aww, she ran away." The Stake spoke up after a brief moment of silence. "Now we can't take more photos."

"Don't worry, Asmo." Ange said while smiling down at her. "Let's just give her some space for a while. We'll get her next time."

Asmodeus smiled back as she looked up at Ange before they both closed their eyes and giggled.

…

Belphegor slammed her bedroom door shut behind her and pressed her back against it, almost on the verge of hyperventilating.

She just couldn't believe it!

_They had seen her!_

Slumping to the floor, Belphegor tried to calm herself, but it was no good after her encounter with Ange and Asmodeus just a minute ago. She was just too terrified that she was seen making a pose in Lucifer's mirror—and it was Ange and Asmodeus who saw her!

Oh, why did it have to be them?

They just might tell the other Stakes, and then they'd all laugh at her!

To hell with fashion and socialization! She'd rather be alone for the rest of her life!

Feeling that now was a perfect time to crawl into her shell, Belphegor got up and ran to her bed. Yanking up the covers, she immediately got under them and covered herself so that she was completely hidden from view.

If looks could kill, she'd have committed suicide by being her first victim.

…

** I had actually thought of including this as part of the '**_I Can't Socialize_**', but I decided not to because then it would be longer than I wanted to be, even though I did say that the one-shots could be of any length. However, I still wanted to put this in, so I decided to make another one-shot to continue the socialization one-shot.**

** Now this actually brings up a point that might be seen from some more one-shots. If I can't fit everything I want in a single one-shot, I'll just continue it in another one-shot, making it like the arcs Renahh Chen has made for her one-shot collection, **_Being Dysfunctional Has Never Been So Much Fun_**. I don't know if any of the other one-shots I have planned for my collection will be arcs or not, but so far this is the first one. It might be the only arc, it might not be, but in any case, I'll still try my best to include everything I'd like to put into these one-shots, regardless of have many parts they have.**

** Anyway, I hope you all enjoy reading this collection as much as I enjoy writing it.**


	4. I Can't Read

_I Can't Read_

Almost there…just a little bit higher…

There…

The book was now wedged between two other books on the highest shelf in the library.

Belphegor breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her arm, thankful the task was finished. She had spent several hours organizing the books so that they all could fit together and were in order from largest to smallest and by color.

It hadn't been too difficult, really, but climbing up the ladder had started to become pretty tiring over time, plus Belphegor felt dizzy while standing on it. She would've hovered in the air like she usually did, given how she was a Stake of Purgatory, but even that made her slightly uncomfortable.

To feel like a bird free in the sky was the sort of feeling that soothed the hearts of others, but to Belphegor it was more like she was Icarus flying too close to the sun so the wax would melt, which would then make her fall into the ocean below and drown. Although it was a ridiculous notion since it was just a Greek myth she heard from Ronove back when she was serving Beatrice, the shy, timid Stake always felt a little afraid of being so high in the air.

Even now, whilst she was standing on top of the ladder close to a high shelf of the bookcase, she had to practically hold onto the edges of the shelves just so she could try to step down onto the next rung. But that was a difficult task harder than organizing the books because she had to steady her breathing, look down at the ladder and the floor below, and take some time getting her foot onto the next rung.

Honestly, it must've taken her longer getting down the ladder than getting up it—maybe even longer than organizing the books!

Oh, why was the one who had to do this? Why was she chosen to organize the books? Shouldn't she at least have some help—something she was scared to ask for—so she wouldn't take so long? It was probably already well past noon by now, perhaps past two o' clock or three o' clock. And despite the fact that she was an outcast among her sisters, she wished that one of them was here to at least put some of the books back on the shelves—maybe take up half the work so that Belphegor wouldn't have to climb up the ladder so many times.

However, Belphegor didn't want her siblings to tease her, or reprimand her that she should be hovering instead of ascending a ladder and descending it like some librarian or a store employee restocking high shelves, so she just stayed in the library all day by herself without even leaving to ask for help or get something to eat or drink.

But now that she was done, she could exit the library and find a clock so she could see what time it was. The old grandfather clock in the library had been broken anyway, but Ange kept it around since it was a valuable antique her mother brought to give the library an old, Victorian appearance. Even the walls, furniture, and paint looked like they were from Victorian times.

Whenever Ange and Asmodeus were reading a book together while they were in here, they'd always sit in a comfortable chair by the fireplace—which was near the grandfather clock, but not close enough to set the thing ablaze, though it couldn't catch fire anyway because the fireplace ran on electricity—with the Stake of Lust sitting on the witch's lap while a device in the clock ticked away, though the hour and minute hands never moved due to all the rust they've accumulated over the years. The gears themselves had rusted too, so the glass door had to be removed to get the device in, and the door was reattached with so much care that it seemed as though the door was never removed in the first place.

Given how her older sister, Leviathan, was so good at woodworking, Belphegor wondered if the Stake of Envy had checked the clock out at some point or another when she wasn't in the woodshop out in the backyard or doing something else.

As she slowly stepped down each rung of the ladder, her heartbeat palpitating and spiking in her chest out of fear for falling, Belphegor slowly counted from one to ten in her mind. It calmed her down somewhat by relieving a little bit of stress, but the descent still unsettled her nerves and tightened her muscles which were already slightly stiff from climbing up and down the ladder over and over and over again.

Once she was on the bottom rung, Belphegor took one last step down…

And was now on the floor, safe and sound in one piece, still standing.

With another sigh of relief, Belphegor again wiped the sweat from her forehead before pulling a chair out from the nearby table so she could sit down and collect her bearings. She wanted to get some rest before getting to the next task Ange had in store for her, but not too much since she wanted to get back to work right away. But after wasting so much time organizing the books, there probably wouldn't be anything else for her to do.

As she was steadying her breathing while getting a little comfortable, she suddenly squeaked in fear when she heard the door to the hallway open a short distance behind her.

"Jeez, do you have to do that every time something makes a sound?"

Belphegor whirled around in her chair, nearly falling out of it, but managing to regain her balance by grabbing the table. "O-Oh, S-Satan…u-um, m-my apologies." She stuttered her words, apologizing out of the fear she did something wrong, and from how Satan's voice was tinged with annoyed irritation, she guessed her fears were correct. "I-I didn't know i-it—u-uh, I-I m-mean…u-um, you were, u-uh, th-there."

"Can't you speak properly?" Her older sister scolded, raising her voice just a tiny bit. "You sound just like a skittish cat!"

Belphegor shrank deeper into her chair as Satan came around and turned her head to face her. She didn't like it when her older sister was yelling; it made her feel like she was weak and useless, and she was always terrified that Satan would one day beat her to a pulp. If she had stood up against Satan and grew a little backbone, maybe she wouldn't be so frightened of her—but then again, Belphegor was way too shy and timid to do something like that, let alone approach anyone for that matter, preferring to hide in her shell like a hermit crab, if that was what she was being called by her sisters these days.

"And sit up straight!" Satan commanded.

Belphegor sat up straight.

"Hands on your lap!"

Belphegor placed her hands on her lap.

"Fold them!"

Belphegor folded her hands.

"Stop sweating!"

Belphegor held her breath until she was sure she had stopped sweating, but her face slowly turned purple so she had to start gasping for breath.

Satan merely sighed in annoyance. "You're such an embarrassment to us, you know? How could you call yourself a proud Stake of Purgatory, proper Furniture to Ange Ushiromiya, when you're such a total liability?"

Belphegor looked down in shame, knowing that her sister was right, if a tad too blunt. It was always her fault for holding her sisters back with her insecurities and fears because she was incredibly shy and extremely timid, so she had begun to wonder if they'd be much better off without her. It wasn't like they cared for her anyway.

They didn't really love her…right? They didn't think she was a burden…did they? She wasn't a liability…was she?

Before another question formed in her mind, Belphegor felt her head yanked up from underneath her chin, her eyes full of terror as they stared into Satan's anger-filled eyes.

"Answer me!" the Stake of Wrath yelled with her eyes closed as her younger sister began to tremble. "I asked you a question, so I expect an answer! Got that?"

"U-U-Um, u-u-uh, y-y-yes—I-I-I, u-um, I-I-" Belphegor began to say, stuttering more of her words. Her incompetence at providing a suitable answer was soon punished when Satan shoved her back into the chair and folded her arms.

"Oh, shut up! If you're not going to speak clearly and just stutter your words while talking so fast that I can't understand you, then there's no point in even talking to you at all!"

Belphegor looked down in shame again, a tear gently sliding down her cheek. Communicating with others was seriously hard for a shy, timid girl like her, so she always preferred to stay quiet, hidden in the back of the group. It wasn't her fault for being the way she was.

Wiping the tears out of her eyes—and the one still on her face—the Stake of Sloth looked up to see Satan at one of the bookcases, scanning over the shelves in search of a book to read. It appeared that she had given up on trying to talk to her younger sister.

Standing up, Belphegor turned to walk out of the library, but before she could take more than three steps…

"Belphegor…"

With a small "Meep!" that, hopefully, Satan wouldn't hear, Belphegor turned to find her older sister holding a couple of books she had pulled off from one of the shelves. "Y-Yes, u-um, S-Satan…d-do y-you, u-uh, r-require s-something f-from, u-um, m-me?" She asked, her voice nearly a whisper, but still loud enough for her older sister to hear.

"Where's '_Moby Dick_'?" Satan inquired while turning to face Belphegor.

Moby Dick?

What was that? Some sort of furniture or small object? And if not, was it a person? But who would be named Moby Dick? Belphegor wasn't even sure that was a real name—then again, she had no idea what names were like in other countries.

That must've been it—it was a foreign name. But whose name was it?

Was it even a real person?

Satan was holding two books, so she must've been referring to a book about this…Moby Dick…right?

"U-Um, you m-mean one of th-these, u-uh, p-papery th-things?" Belphegor shyly asked, feeling slightly apprehensive about what her older sister was going to say in response.

"Yes, Belphegor, a book entitled '_Moby Dick_'." Satan said as she took a couple steps towards her, sounding a tad more irritated.

"U-Uh, you mean a-a book on one of th-these w-wooden th-things th-that, u-um, look like a-a ladder?" Belphegor knew they were called shelves, but at the moment, she was becoming just too scared to even say it properly.

Satan came closer. "Yes, Belphegor, on one of the shelves." Her voice was tinged with a little more irritation.

Belphegor swallowed a lump in her throat. "S-So you're, u-um, asking wh-where one of th-these p-papery th-things on, u-uh, one of th-these wooden th-things th-that, u-uh, looks like a-a, u-um, ladder is?"

"Yes, Belphegor, I am. And if you don't answer me _again_, then the hard, round-like thing with five pointy things at the end of my arm will shortly make a firm impact with the short, pointy thing you use to smell." Satan replied cynically, "I'll ask you one, _final_ time. Where is '_Moby Dick_'?"

Belphegor's eyes averted to a nearby garbage can filled to the brim with old books that were worn and ratty.

Satan couldn't possibly be referring to one of those books…was she?

"U-Um, i-it might be, u-uh…"

"Yes, Belphegor, were is it?"

"I-It, u-um, might be in th-the, u-um, g-garbage?"

Satan's eyes grew wide with surprise. "IN THE WHAT?"

Belphegor swallowed another lump in her throat. "Th-The p-pail w-with th-the, u-uh, little wh-white, p-plastic b-bag in it."

If she thought Satan was going to rush over to the garbage can and start throwing the old, worn, ratty books all over the floor and give her a chance to escape, she was wrong, because in less than five seconds, Belphegor was suddenly lying on the floor, holding her nose while it began to bleed from the severe blow the Stake of Wrath dealt.

Then Satan proceeded to rush over to the garbage can and started throwing the old, worn, ratty books all over the floor. All the while Belphegor started crying while she looked up at the table through tear filled eyes, reaching up for the tissue box by the edge of the table. But her hand slipped off it, causing the box to fall from the table and hit her head. It didn't hurt too much, unlike her bloody nose, but she still whimpered weakly as she closed her eyes when it fell on her. Turning her head to the side to grab them, her eyes grew wide as Satan began to storm towards her.

Satan's teeth were clenched together, her eyes filled with anger while her face was red with rage. For a second, it looked as if steam was coming out of her ears.

Frightened, Belphegor squeaked and let go of the tissue box before she started pushing her hands against the floor in an attempt to push her body away from her older sister, but by the time the Stake of Wrath made it to the tissue box, the Stake of Sloth was too late.

In a fit of rage, Satan screamed with fury as she violently kicked the tissue box so hard that it shot straight towards Belphegor and barely hit her. She was lucky that it had missed her, but she had been so startled by how close it had come to hitting her that she cringed in fear.

Big mistake.

As it was too late for her to escape from the older Stake's wrath, Belphegor then cried out even louder as Satan grabbed her hair and yanked her up, the Stake of Sloth's ponytail waving around helplessly as she continued to cry.

Belphegor tried to say she was sorry, but a sharp punch to her stomach jolted her eyes open and made them grow wide, plus the blow caused her to cough up a bit of saliva from her mouth.

Before she could recover, Belphegor was then violently thrown at the wall like a ragdoll being tossed around by a small child who was angry that something didn't go right. As she slumped to the floor, she lifted her head and whimpered softly, fearfully, as her older sister was now towering above her, ready to beat her to a pulp…

"What is going on in here?"

Having cringed in fear, anticipating the severe beating her older sister was going to give her, Belphegor's eyes snapped open when she heard Ange's voice from behind Satan.

Turning around, Satan saw the witch standing by the door, tapping her foot on the floor while waiting for an answer.

"I thought I told you to never harm any of your sisters ever again, Satan. However, it appears that everything anyone says to you just goes through one ear and out the other." Ange said as she stepped over to the furious Stake who had turned her head back to take a quick glance at Belphegor, making the younger Stake flinch fearfully. "Honestly, just what am I going to do with you?"

"It's not my fault, Ange! Belphegor did an awful job of organizing the books, plus she even threw some of the older ones away, including '_Moby Dick_'! Satan argued, holding up one of the old, worn, ratty books that she had taken out of the garbage.

Ange merely turned her head to look around the library, carefully examining the shelves to find that the books had been ordered from largest to smallest and by color to boot. "But does that justify your behavior towards her for that?" She then asked coldly, glaring at the Stake of Wrath while crossing her arms.

Satan opened her mouth to answer, but closed it immediately when she figured out that her attempts at trying to explain her previous actions would be useless, knowing that she was going to be punished for what she did to her little sister.

"So you're not going to answer me?" Ange asked as she took another step closer and got right in Satan's face. The Stake of Wrath merely tipped her head down in shame, unable to make eye contact with the witch. "Fine," Ange continued, "if you're not going to explain yourself to me, then I'll just add on to the punishment I was going to give you. First, you'll receive no dinner tonight—"

"But Ange—" Satan tried to protest, but was cut off by the witch.

"No 'buts', Satan. I don't want to hear a word from you. I gave you a chance to answer, but you didn't take it, so now you're going to stand there and listen. Do you understand?"

The Stake of Wrath nodded tipping her head down in shame again.

"Good." Ange went on, "Secondly, you'll be confined to your room for the rest of the day. And third, starting tomorrow, you'll be going to therapy until you can learn to fully manage your anger."

"Yes, Ange."

"Furthermore, I don't want to hear that you're misbehaving there, but if I do, then you will receive a punishment that's more severe than the one I just gave you, got it?"

Satan nodded.

"Good, now go to your room, now." Ange commanded, pointing at the door while the Stake of Wrath hung her head and slowly walked out.

Belphegor kind of felt sorry for her older sister, but she knew that her master's punishment was proper and just. Satan had been told countless times never to hurt her sisters, but she'd just get so angry at times that she'd have to be forcefully restrained by Lucifer and Ange before being dragged to her room by the two of them so they could have a long discussion with her about what she did.

Because of her older sister's short fused temper, Belphegor didn't like approaching Satan at all, even when she wasn't angry. Of course, that would make the Stake of Wrath even more angry—a lose-lose situation on Belphegor's part—but the Stake of Sloth would do her best to hide from her older sister until her anger died down. She just hoped Satan would understand that she wasn't doing it to be mean, but because she was incredibly shy and extremely timid.

"Belphegor…"

Belphegor squeaked in fear when Ange turned her attention towards her, terrified that she had done something to incur the witch's ire. She curled up into a ball and trembled even harder than before, becoming more frightened when she realized that she couldn't escape from her master.

But Ange wasn't even angry at all when she turned to look at the timid Stake shivering in the corner. If anything, she looked disappointed as she approached the Stake of Sloth and kneeled down on one knee to place her hand on Belphegor's shoulder. Signing as she gently batted the Stake's arms away, she placed her fingers under Belphegor's chin and lifted her head so they could make eye contact, despite the Stake's eyes being shut tightly so she could avoid seeing what Ange was doing to her.

"I'm not angry with you at all, Belphegor, understand?"

Belphegor's eyes slowly opened. "Y-You're…n-not?"

"No, of course not." Ange's voice sounded tired, deflated as if her vocal cords had been punctured by something sharp that made them gradually shrink until there wasn't any air left in them. "I'm just disappointed in you, that's all." She stood up and walked over to the nearest bookcase, stopping halfway there and closing her eyes, placing her hand over her forehead as she sighed again.

While Belphegor was glad that her master wasn't angry with her, unlike Satan, she still felt that she had let Ange down.

But why? What did she do to make the witch so disappointed with her?

Belphegor didn't know, but she knew that whatever had happened was her fault, so she hung her head in shame. "I-I'm, u-um, s-sorry, M-Miss Ange. I-I assure you I-I'll, u-um, be s-sure t-to, u-uh, better next t-time."

"No, Belphegor. There won't be a next time." Ange said while stepping forward and reaching up to take a book from one of the shelves. "I asked you to organize the books and told you before that I had written down specific instructions on a piece of paper. Didn't you look at them?"

"U-Um, y-yes, I-I, u-uh, did." Belphegor responded, feeling like a total failure for doing something that her master didn't expect from her, even though she didn't know what it was she did wrong.

She had organized the books like Ange told her to do, so why was the witch so disappointed about that? Shouldn't she have been happy that Belphegor followed her directions? Was it…was it because she didn't organize them properly and threw some of the old, worn, ratty ones out, as Satan had said before Ange scolded her?

But how could she organize them properly? She didn't know how Ange wanted them done, even though she had looked at the paper the instructions were written on. It wasn't her fault the directions on the paper were so…so…difficult to understand.

All of a sudden Belphegor felt even more ashamed, knowing that she was just shifting the blame off of her and onto her master. That wasn't who she was; she was proper Furniture. She couldn't blame her master for something she didn't do. Belphegor knew she was the one who did a poor job; not Ange. Her master wasn't the one at fault here; she was.

If Ange was going to punish her, so be it. Belphegor would accept it for doing a terrible job, even though it would lower her self-esteem—though she never had any self-esteem to begin with, so it might've been impossible to degrade something that was nonexistent.

"Well, from the way you've organized the books, I'm finding it very hard to believe that you looked at the directions." Ange looked at the book before turning around and pointing her thumb behind her at the bookcase. "This is clearly unacceptable, understand?"

"Y-Yes, M-Miss Ange…" Belphegor answered, resigning herself to whatever punishment Ange had in store for her, like Satan had done only minutes before.

"Honestly…" Ange began to say as she closed her eyes and slowly shook her head before opening them again. "Don't you even know how to read?"

It took her a couple of seconds to realize it, but before she could say anything else, Ange's eyes suddenly grew wide as she knew she had just made a grave mistake. She had initially suspected was wrong with Belphegor the moment the Stake's eyes jolted open, but she didn't know how bad the situation was until tears started running down the Stake of Sloth's cheeks.

It was at that moment when Ange realized that it wasn't her harsh tone of voice which made Belphegor cry, nor was it how she worded her question; it was the question itself which made the Stake of Sloth start crying, and that very question, plus the shy, timid Stake's reaction, which showed Ange why Belphegor did a poor job of organizing the books.

Belphegor _couldn't_ read!

That was why she organized the books from largest to smallest and by color.

It wasn't because she didn't want to do it in a way that might've been easy for her to do; it was because she didn't know what the instructions on the paper said because she didn't know how to read them!

Now that she knew the truth behind the color coded, from largest to smallest, order of books, Ange could very well understand why Belphegor organized them like that. But before she could say she was sorry for what she said, the Stake of Sloth just broke down and started bawling even more.

"I'm sorry, Miss Ange!" Belphegor cried as waterfalls of tears poured down her face and onto her outfit and the floor. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't throw me away again! Please don't throw me away! I promise to do better! I promise! Please give another chance! I swear I'll do a much better job next time! Please, please, please!" By this point, Belphegor was on the floor again, in the fetal position as she continued to weep nonstop.

Ange slowly approached her, but she was afraid of getting any closer because she didn't want to spook the poor Stake and make her even more upset than she already was. However, she needed to apologize and comfort Belphegor as best she could to try and calm her down; after all, she was her friend, so it was only right that she should say sorry and embrace her in a hug to settle the Stake's frayed nerves.

So she gathered her courage and stepped right up to the Stake of Sloth to do just that.

"Belphegor, I—"

But the moment she gently touched Belphegor, the frightened Stake freaked out.

With a loud scream of terror, Belphegor pushed herself away from Ange and held her left arm out in front of her to protect herself from the witch.

The nature of the sudden scare she just gave the poor Stake startled Ange so bad that she nearly stumbled backwards when she stood up. But what scared her even more was the look in Belphegor's eyes when they were making eye contact.

That gleam of terror in the Stake of Sloth's eyes…

It was the exact same gleam of terror that Ange had seen in Belphegor's eyes back at St. Lucia's, when she used the anti-magic toxin to destroy her and her sisters.

At once Ange realized that her fears about Belphegor were true. She should've known they were true when the poor Stake was begging her to not throw her away again, which translated to the witch using the anti-magic to destroy her, but she just thought that Belphegor was so scared of it happening again that she just blurted it out while she was bawling. And now Ange had proof that Belphegor was truly that scared.

Belphegor really was frightened that the anti-magic toxin was going to be used on her again.

And she was also terrified of Ange as well.

In an effort to try and soothe the Stake of Sloth's fears, Ange held her hand out and was about to slowly approach her again, but Belphegor got so spooked by that she sprang to her feet and ran towards the door to the hallway.

"Belphegor, wait!" Ange called after her, but it was no good.

Belphegor wasn't going to wait; she wasn't going to stop.

She just kept running until she was in her bedroom, slamming the door behind her and fumbling at the knob to try and lock it before running into her closet and slamming that door behind her too. Then, Belphegor slumped against the corner and cried as she entered the fetal position.

…

Time passed.

Night fell, and with it the animals that scurried around during the day. They were all off to their homes to get a good night's sleep while the nocturnal denizens came out to play.

Most of the lights in Ange's manor were off, save for the television since the nine o' clock movie was on. Five of the Stakes were gathered around it, dressed in their pajamas while having some late night snacks, such as popcorn, chips, and sodas, while they watched the movie. It was one of those adventure movies, filled with action as the hero tried to save the damsel in distress while stopping a madman's plans for taking over the world at the same time.

The only two Stakes who weren't present for the movie were Satan and Belphegor.

The Stake of Wrath had been grounded for beating her little sister earlier that day, so she lost the privilege of watching the movie with the rest of her sisters. Even so, she could still barely hear the sounds coming from the television through her bedroom door, but when the movie was halfway over at ten o' clock, she went to bed. It took a couple of minutes for her to get to sleep, but her snoring eventually blocked out the sounds so that she could get a good night's sleep—she'd need it for tomorrow's therapy session, which Ange had already arranged for before dinner.

As for Belphegor, she was sort of a wreck. She had been crying nonstop ever since Ange figured out what was wrong with her. Her face, which had always been slightly pale, was now red with shame, and it was soaking wet from her tears which had also gotten her red jacket a little drenched from all her crying. Maybe the white shirt underneath it had also been stained by the same dark, watery blotch that nearly covered the whole front of the jacket.

Belphegor knew she was never really that intelligent, but she had never thought that being illiterate was part of being almost completely ignorant. She had known that she couldn't read nor write, and she had believed those were qualities Furniture like herself shouldn't possess, but she had no idea whether a witch or a sorcerer would take her in as a servant if he or she learned about her illiteracy and ignorance. Maybe, if that master didn't require her to do any reading or writing, only wanting her to do the same chores she did day in and day out, there just might be a position for her. However, Furniture doing that sort of work would never earn respect from others, always being looked down upon because of their low status, but Belphegor didn't care about that. Her reputation as Furniture didn't matter to her as long as she was there to do her master's chores and take the fall for him or her. That was what her purpose as Furniture was.

Now that it was around half an hour close to eleven o' clock, Belphegor felt it was time to get ready for bed. She hadn't made an effort to change out of her outfit and into her nightdress as the night progressed, and she was still sniveling, snot running out her nose and down onto her mouth. She could get a washcloth from the closet out in the hall and go to the bathroom to clean her face, but it was dark out there, plus she ran the risk of running into one of her sisters or Ange while going there. So Belphegor decided to just let the tears, the snot, and the little bit of blood from her nose be until early in the morning; as the first one up, she stood a much better chance of getting to the bathroom then since Ange and her sisters would be asleep.

But she doubted that she'd be able to get any sleep at all tonight, even with the several nightlights she had hooked into the electrical outlets so that she didn't have to be scared of going to sleep in the dark. After her interaction with Ange earlier that day, Belphegor felt that she'd just be up all night suffering from stress, too terrified to close her eyes and sleep, frightened that some kind of scary monster was going to crawl out of the shadows and slaughter her by tearing her limb from limb or by devouring her whole. It was ironic, really, how she, a shy, timid girl was always hiding in those same shadows, away from others because she didn't fit in, and was terrified of them because she was frightened that they'd tease her.

Now she was starting to have doubts about hiding in the shadows whenever she needed to. Her body was seized by a sudden shudder of fear as she staggered to her feet, her hands placed against the walls for support so she didn't fall against the door.

It was late, and she was exhausted, so she might as well climb into bed without changing into her nightdress. She didn't want to get that wet from tears too. Her sheets might get stained by her tears, but they were going to go in the washing machine and then the dryer tomorrow anyway, so it didn't matter too much whether they got wet or not.

Slowly pushing open her closet door, Belphegor placed her hand on her forehead, looking down at the floor in shame because of how she had reacted when Ange learned that she couldn't read—although her reaction was what answered her master's question to begin with, so it wasn't the witch's fault for asking such a question. She was just disappointed and slightly mad that the Stake of Sloth hadn't organized the books the proper way, so it was only natural for her to doubt whether Belphegor could read or not since she knew the Stake to be a hard worker and proper Furniture.

Belphegor, however, knew she was to blame for reacting in such an unrefined way, bawling like a child crying over a broken toy or an infant who wanted attention. It was her fault for doing so because that just gave a definitive "Yes" as an answer to her master's question.

And now, because of her blunder and for failing to properly organize the books in the order Ange wanted her to, she was going to be thrown away again like a disgusting ragdoll being discarded after having been pulled out of the trash by the same person who threw her there in the first place. If she hadn't failed to fulfill her master's orders and had just accepted whatever punishment she was going to get instead of crying in the fetal position on the floor, Ange probably wouldn't consider throwing her out so she could still be allowed to stay and serve her.

Oh, who was she kidding?

As she slowly staggered over to her bed, Belphegor knew that Ange would find a replacement for her—someone who would do a better job serving her master than she ever did.

But Belphegor didn't care anymore. If her master wanted to get rid of her and find a suitable replacement, so be it. She wasn't proper Furniture anyway; she was just a shy, timid girl with so many insecurities that she practically lost count of how many she had.

Hopefully her successor would fit in better with the other Stakes and serve Ange by following all her orders without question or hesitation, straight to the letter.

Yes…her successor would be able to adapt to society and join it, whereas she would never be able to become a part of society.

As she pulled the covers and the sheets back and climbed into bed, covering her whole body with the sheets and then the covers so nobody would have to see her in such a sad state, Belphegor thought about leaving early in the morning, just after she'd woken up.

She'd just get up, get dressed, and return to Purgatory in search of a new master she could serve. And if she didn't find one, she'd just live on the streets as homeless Furniture with no place to go and nobody to turn to. Eventually, she'd die alone, but nobody would miss her. Nobody even cared about her at all, so why should anybody hold a funeral for her, attend it, or even present a eulogy in her honor.

Sighing to herself, Belphegor started to believe that she should just die and save everyone the trouble of having to deal with her.

She so wished that she had died from the bullet that pierced her chest during the third game between Beatrice and Battler. Rudolf had intended to shoot EvaBeatrice, but she just got in the way to shield her master from harm. EvaBeatrice was totally ungrateful for that, and Belphegor guessed she had a right to be, considering how she never even turned into her Stake form or materialized her blade during her fight with Rudolf, all because of her claustrophobia and her stomach—she literally became nauseas every single time she saw someone get violently killed, which in turn made her vomit.

Belphegor had always thought that sickening things like that were really scary and gross, but while she was right about that, she still wished she could handle such gory stuff—maybe just a tad bit—so she didn't hold everyone back.

But that wish would never come true for a shy, timid girl like her, so there was no point in even trying to make it come true, nor dwell on the subject.

Closing her eyes as her breathing grew steady, quiet, the Stake of Sloth dreamed of a place where she could feel safe without forcing herself to fit in by being included in groups of people she knew or didn't know.

It wasn't like the nightmares she usually had every night where she'd wake up in a cold sweat, pale and trembling uncontrollably while hiding under her covers with the several nightlights in her room plugged into the electrical outlets, desperately begging for the nightmare to be just that instead of a horrible reality.

It was a peaceful dream, filled with all the things girls like her usually liked: solitude, familiar surroundings, places where she could hide to feel safe, and security. The landscape was so beautiful, layered with so many fields of flowers and large trees that towered over them, and inhabited by small, cute woodland critters that scurried about. Creeks and rivers flowed to and from large, shallow ponds and lakes that fish swam in.

Standing on top of a large, grassy hill was a tree taller than the rest, and in its shade lay a comfortable blanket with a lone girl, Belphegor laying on it. Lying on the blanket felt good, for it was made of silk of the finest quality. It was simply perfect for her, as the silk threads which were used to make the blanket came from India and China.

She felt so calm, so relaxed, when she was asleep. Her breathing was steady while her body was curled up like a kitten snuggling up to its mother, except this kitten had no mother to look after her, but even so, she still felt secure on the blanket without anyone watching over her.

The life of a loner was the life for her; nobody would socialize with her, nor care for her well being, or even believe she existed.

Yes…this was surely—

Belphegor's eyes suddenly jolted open as her breath got caught in her throat, having awoken in a cold sweat.

Her peaceful dream, which was but a rare blessing she wasn't bestowed with very often, had shattered, turning into the frightful reality she desperately sought to escape.

Her eyes darted to her bedroom door. She couldn't see it from underneath her covers, but she knew where it was…as well as the sound the doorknob made when someone was coming in.

Whoever was entering her room didn't seem to be too friendly, for the person's footsteps were slow, quiet, almost as if he or she was sneaking up on her whilst she slept.

But now Belphegor was fully awake, and completely terrified.

Who was this strange person entering her room without her permission—although, technically it wasn't her room anyway, since this was Ange's manor.

Was it one of her sisters, coming in to play a prank on her, or was it Ange, here to scold her for her behavior and her actions earlier that day?

Or was it…a stranger, someone Belphegor didn't know, breaking into the manor at this hour for some unknown purpose?

Belphegor felt her heart begin to beat even faster as she started to tremble uncontrollably.

Was it a thief trying to steal something—either him or her or her younger sister, Mammon, trying to do the same thing; though Belphegor doubted the Stake of Greed would do that when her friendship with Ange was now pretty rocky because of all her bad behavior in the past.

Was it a…

Belphegor swallowed a lump in her throat.

Was it a…murderer, quietly stealing into her room, wielding a weapon of some kind, creeping up to her bed so he or she could strike at her and attempt to eliminate her in one, quick blow?

If that was the case, then what about her sisters and Ange? The mere thought of them dying at the hands of whoever this unknown person was sent chills up her spine, for she would've failed to save them if they were already dead—plus, she'd would've also failed in her duties as Furniture to protect Ange, as the witch was her current master.

No witch or sorcerer would accept her when they found out that someone had killed her master and sisters while she just hid in a closet and under the covers of a bed. They wouldn't take her in after word of that got out. Besides, she probably might've been dead by then if the murderer killed her right now too.

Or was this person…

Belphegor swallowed another lump in her throat as she became even more frightened, tears pouring down her face once more her trembling went out of control.

Was this person…one of those kinds of predators the news talked about?

Belphegor was only passing by the television sets Ange had in the manor when she heard about it, but she didn't pay much attention to anything on them because she was busy with other things, or because she felt that it wasn't her place to speak of such topics.

But every so often, a particular sort of crime would be mentioned on the news, yet it wasn't theft or murder.

What was that crime called again?

Rape…?

Belphegor didn't know anything about it, save for the fact that it was a very bad sexual crime.

Was that what the person who entered her room just now was going to do?

Belphegor felt her blood freeze as she became even more terrified.

The footsteps had sounded closer, but now the mysterious person was standing right next to her bed. Belphegor was way too frightened to peek out from underneath the covers and risk giving away where she was, but she knew the unknown person had already figured out where she was from all her trembling. It was so easy and obvious to tell where she was, considering how she was trembling so badly.

Yet…nothing was happening just yet.

The person seemed to be taking it carefully, making sure to be as slow and quiet as possible to not alert others. Sure, the neighbors might here her screams, but Ange and her sisters couldn't if they were dead. Even if they were alive, they still might not know what was going to happen to her since she was so frightened that she couldn't scream or even cry out for someone to help her.

But…

Was it a person standing beside her bed, or was it…_a monster?_

All at once Belphegor's fright increased a thousand-fold.

It could've been a monster standing next to the bed!

It was waiting for her to peek out so it could devour her after ripping her to pieces!

It was standing _right there! Right next to her!_

Belphegor didn't know what she was going to do, but before she could even think of something, it was too late.

A moment later she felt something touch the covers right where her shoulder was, giving her such a bad scare that a frightened shriek escaped her mouth, closely followed by screams of terror as she struggled underneath her covers before falling out of bed. Scrambling towards the corner of the room since she had nowhere to run, the terrified Stake's breathing became more rapid and more unsteady as her heart pounded harder and harder in her chest.

Once she had reached the corner Belphegor immediately went into the fetal position, tears pouring down her face while she trembled so uncontrollably that her bones could've been heard clinking together from about a mile away.

She could hear footsteps approaching her, but she couldn't see who was coming towards her due to her eyes being closed so that she was blind to whatever was going to happen next. When they were close enough, Belphegor expected to be beaten, die at the hands of this unknown entity, or..._worse_.

But all of a sudden…they stopped. Then the unknown entity seemed to…kneel down next to her?

Belphegor wasn't sure if this was the end for her or not, but she prayed that this was all just another one of her nightmares, that she'd wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, gasping and panting for breath, or waking up Ange and her sisters with her screaming.

"_Th-Th-This i-i-is j-j-just a-a-a n-n-nightmare…Th-Th-This i-i-is j-j-just a-a-a n-n-nightmare…Th-Th-This i-i-is j-j-just a-a-a n-n-nightmare…"_ She kept mentally repeating over and over again, trying to convince herself that it was true, that this was all just some terrifying nightmare.

But it wasn't true; it was a reality. And since this was a reality, and not a dream, but the real waking world, Belphegor had every reason to be completely frightened.

How could she not be? Someone, _or something_, had entered her room, approached her bed, and touched her to give her a very bad scare. If that didn't qualify for a nightmare, then what else could? Pretty much anything she could think of.

However, if on the off chance that this wasn't some total stranger with evil intentions, or a hideous monster from the shadows she hid in to feel safe, maybe she didn't have to be as scared as she was right not. If it was one of her sisters, she could get to her feet—or at least attempt to, given how her legs were shaking so badly they were like jelly—and apologize for overreacting and for startling them if they had been startled by her sudden outburst of fright. If it was Ange…Belphegor didn't think she could face her master, not like this at least—in fact, her sisters might tease her for her shoddy appearance; but if it really was Ange, she'd have to give the same apology she would've given to her sisters, plus another apology for her behavior earlier that day.

So, with that logic in mind, Belphegor cracked on eye open and lifted her head slightly to see who was kneeling down next to her. It took a few moments for the tears to disappear from her eye as the blurriness gradually subsided, but as soon as it did, the Stake of Sloth saw that she was right.

It was Ange kneeling down next to her. Perhaps the witch was going to yell at her for scaring her by accident. If she was, Belphegor deserved it.

Yet her master showed no signs of anger; if anything, she looked pretty pale, almost as if she was…scared.

But of what? Belphegor's sudden overreaction? Or was it something else?

Maybe something really bad had happened after all, and now she and Ange were the only two people left in the house. If that was true, then the duty of protecting the witch fell to her and her alone.

Belphegor opened her mouth to speak so she could try to assess the situation, but just as she was about to say something, Ange opened her mouth and tried to say something, but closed immediately afterwards.

"M-Miss A-Ange…" Belphegor finally found the courage and managed to say, her voice tremulous from fear, "I-Is s-something…w-wrong? D-Did s-something…h-happen?"

Ange swallowed a lump in her throat. "A-Ah, u-um, Belphegor…" She stuttered some of her words, something Belphegor never expected her to do. "A-Are you…u-uh, alright?" She was trembling, as if she had just been hit by a blast of cold air.

Her question and the sudden concern she was showing for her surprised Belphegor more than slightly startled her. Here was her master, wondering if she was okay after having scared her just now while looking scared herself, most likely because the Stake's overreaction startled her pretty badly.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Belphegor cleared it as best she could before answering. "Y-Yes, M-Miss Ange, o-of c-course. W-Why d-do you ask?"

"Because, w-well, I-I, u-um, came into your room without knocking first, and I-I just, u-uh, scared you by accident, s-so I-I, u-uh…" Ange seemed to have calmed down somewhat, and her complexion was gradually turning back to normal while she slowly stopped trembling, but she was still pretty nervous. It looked like she was trying to find the right words to say. "W-Well, I-I'm s-sorry about. I-I didn't mean to frighten you. I-I just wanted to, u-um, talk about what happened today."

Belphegor's eyes widened slightly as she became more scared once more. The fear she had shown earlier returned for just a bit, but then it subsided and became replaced by shame. Her master was going to punish her now, and there was nothing she could do about it. She suspected that childish behavior she displayed before had made Ange even angrier with her for running away; now she was trapped with nowhere to hide.

She could feel her claustrophobia begin to boil over inside her, but she tried to keep herself from losing it completely. If she freaked out and had a sudden panic attack here, her master might just leave there to fend for herself, though that just might make it worse. Even so, Belphegor knew that would be a suitable punishment for her, or at least part of one, anyway.

As the Stake of Sloth tipped her head down while she trembled, bringing her arms closer to her chest, making sure to keep her hands closer to her neck, Ange started to become afraid that Belphegor was going to try and strangle herself—either that or materialize her blade and trust it into her throat to end her life. Although she could revive her since she was the Witch of Resurrection, Ange still felt pretty scared about losing one of her closest, and only, friends. Doubts ran through her mind, making her wonder if she would be able to bring Belphegor back to life; even though that was kind of ridiculous, it didn't make her feel any better.

So to try and help Belphegor feel better, Ange wrapped her arms around the poor, frightened Stake and embraced her in a hug. Her sudden compassion surprised Belphegor so much that it made her whole face turn red with embarrassment, finding it harder to control her breathing so that her claustrophobia wouldn't go out of control.

"U-Um, u-uh, M-Miss A-Ange…?"

"I'm sorry."

Belphegor opened her mouth to say something, wondering why Ange was saying she was sorry again when she didn't do anything wrong, but the witch didn't stop speaking.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Ange apologized as she drew the flustered Stake even closer. "I didn't mean to be so harsh before; I truly didn't mean it. I'm really, really sorry about that. I didn't intend to say those things to you." She tipped her head down and placed her fingers underneath Belphegor's chin, lifting the Stake's head up so they could make eye contact. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Belphegor stared back at her master through tear filled eyes.

Was Ange…truly sorry about how she scolded her before?

Well, of course she was; she obviously just said that she was, but Belphegor didn't know if she meant it or not. If she had been more sociable instead of always being such a shy, timid girl all the time, she might've known that Ange was telling the truth.

But she didn't want to doubt her master and not answer her question, but Belphegor didn't want to be rude—she was proper Furniture to the Golden Witch, after all, so not answering would just make things worse. However, she didn't want anything from Ange since her apology would suffice; besides, Belphegor had no need for little trinkets or expensive gifts since she was a hard-working girl in service to a strong witch. It was her duty to serve her master by following every order she was given straight to the letter, including purchasing a gift if the witch so desired one.

"U-Um, you d-don't have t-to d-do anything for m-me, M-Milady." Belphegor stuttered, averting her eyes so she could look away from her master. "I-I d-don't n-need anything."

"But there must be something I can do." Ange said while she began to gently stroke Belphegor's cheek. "I can get you something, make you something special to eat, or take you out to some place you would like to go to."

"Th-that's f-fine, b-but really, M-Miss Ange, you d-don't need t-to d-do any of th-that for m-me."

"Then can I teach you how to read?"

Belphegor looked up at Ange in surprise. "Y-You k-knew…?"

"I figured it out after I saw how you reacted when I harshly asked if you knew how to read." Ange explained while she moved her arm back so she was hugging Belphegor with both arms. "After that I thought about what I could do to apologize for how harsh I was before, so I started thinking that I could do that."

Belphegor didn't know how to respond to Ange's reasoning, but if her master wanted to teach her how to read, then she'd do as she was told and learn how to read.

"Y-You…r-really…w-would?"

Ange nodded. "Of course; you're my friend. I'd do anything to help you."

Belphegor felt uneasy about Ange's offer, but maybe the witch was sincere.

Perhaps she really was willing to teach her how to read.

Maybe learning how to read wouldn't be so bad. It might make her better Furniture if she could learn to read fluently. If that was possible, then perhaps…

"U-Um, M-Miss Ange…?"

"Yes?" Ange smiled as she responded.

"Th-Then, u-um…d-do you, u-uh, th-think you c-could, u-um…t-teach m-me how t-to, u-uh…w-write, as w-well?"

Ange cocked her head to the side just a bit. "Of course; if that's what you want, then I can teach you how to read and write."

Although she felt a little nervous about this whole thing, Belphegor thought that it just might work. It was going to take a long while since there would be numerous lessons she was going to be taught, but soon she'd be finally be able to read and write.

One of the few, small smiles she had ever shown in her life spread across her face as she thought of all the words she'd be able to write and the vast knowledge she could acquire from reading books.

It was a shame that her moment of peace had to be ruined.

Upon hearing something growl from somewhere inside the room, Belphegor squeaked in fear and clung to Ange's camisole, burying her head in the witch's chest. "Wh-What w-was th-that?" She whispered as she began to get scared again.

Ange merely giggled. "That was your own stomach, silly."

Belphegor blushed in embarrassment as she began to talk very fast like she usually did whenever she was embarrassed. "O-Oh, u-um, y-yes, u-uh, o-of c-course i-it, u-um, w-was!"

Ange laughed as she helped Belphegor to her feet. "Come on, I'll make you something to eat. I'm sure you haven't eaten since breakfast, what with your being cooped up in the library and in here for most of the day."

Belphegor tipped her head down as her blush turned a little redder from having been embarrassed even more. But instead of frowning, she just showed another small smile. "Y-yes, th-thank you, M-Miss Ange."

…

** Ah, finally I'm able to get back to writing fanfiction! It's been a long while since I last wrote something! Now that I don't have much to do at this point in time, I can get back into writing!**

** I was originally going to split this one-shot into two parts when I saw how long it became, but I decided not to because I didn't really feel like it.**

** Also, like in the last two one-shots, I decided to show some interaction between Belphegor and only one of her sisters. This time I decided to go for Satan, but while her interaction with Belphegor went a little bit differently than I was thinking, it still turned out to be quite nice in the end. **

**Part of their interaction was inspired by an episode of Black Adder, a British comedy show that's a parody of historic events; though I haven't seen the whole series—just some clips of it on YouTube, to be honest. Since I liked the one part of the Black Adder scene quite a lot, I decided to include something that was like it in this one-shot to make it a little funny/funnier than it is.**

**For the next sister Belphegor will interact with, I'm thinking about making it Leviathan since I do have an interesting idea I'd like to include in the one-shot involving her.**

**Now, because of some personal things that are going on offline, I actually began to think about making this collection a weekend project while I work on important fanfiction projects, such as my Ange/Asmodeus story, from Monday to Friday. However, I had to slightly alter this plan because Renahh Chen—now known as Suteki Renahh Desu—said that she didn't think she'd be able to write anything for a while—however long that is—so I don't think she'll be able to write the suggestion I gave her and all of the ones I had ready for her. I recalled the one I had given her and am now going to work on it and the other suggestions I made for her, so now I've got a lot more fanfiction work to do now. So here's the new plan:**

**I'll work on important fanfiction projects on Mondays through Fridays (this hasn't changed).**

'_I Can't'_ **will become a Saturday project, meaning I'll only work on it on Saturdays.**

**The suggestions I made for Suteki Renahh Desu will become a Sunday project; meaning that I'll only work on it on Sundays. However, for this weekend, I'm going to start working on the suggestions I made, beginning with the second half of one I gave to Renahh; she did the first half, so I'm going to conclude the suggestion by doing the second half. I also might do the one I recently gave her, and then recalled, just to get it done and over with so I can get started on this new plan I have; though the plan may come into effect next Tuesday, since I might spend Monday (Memorial Day) finishing up whatever suggestions I decided to work on.**

**And that's pretty much all I have to say for now.**

**Disclaimers:**

**I don't own Black Adder; it's owned by the writers: Richard Curtis, Rowan Atkinson, and Ben Elton, and the show's producer, John Lloyd,**

**I don't own Moby Dick; it's owned by Herman Melville, the man who wrote the story.**


	5. I Can't Go Into A Woodshop

_I Can't Go Into A Woodshop_

To some, a woodshop was a paradise for those who could craft some beautiful works of wooden art.

To others, a woodshop was just an average storehouse to store wood and build furniture and other things.

To some others, a woodshop was a dangerous place filled with machines capable of taking off someone's limbs and claiming the person's life.

To Leviathan, a woodshop was a dream come true that fit into the first category of what a woodshop was.

To Ange and the other Stakes, minus Belphegor, a woodshop was just an everyday shed that fit into the second category of what a woodshop was.

To Belphegor, a woodshop was a terrifying nightmare that fit into the third category of what a woodshop was.

Why someone would want to enter a truly foreboding place of no return was beyond her. She didn't understand why a person would want to use those dangerous objects when they could potentially kill someone.

It just didn't make sense. Those tools in the woodshop out in Ange's backyard weren't meant to cut wood into pieces or stick them back together—they were weapons meant to be used for killing people! They were like those tools found in torture chambers, the ones that make the poor, helpless prisoner bleed to death!

So why would Leviathan, her older sister of all people, want to do woodworking?!

It just didn't add up.

Leviathan was, as her sisters all knew, slightly clumsy, so making a simple mistake in the woodshop might cost her an arm, or a leg, or maybe even her life!

It wasn't like Belphegor thought her older sister was incompetent at anything—calling a draw when she went up against Kyrie back when she served Beatrice with EvaBeatrice as their current master at the time was a smart move—but her concern for Leviathan wasn't aroused by doubting her and what she could do. Rather, she was worried that something might happen to her and was scared the Stake of Envy might actually die in there.

But Belphegor knew she was being ridiculous…well, partly ridiculous.

Her master, Ange, was the Witch of Resurrection, so she could revive Leviathan if she did get killed by the machines and tools in the woodshop.

But what if she couldn't? What if Leviathan really did die and couldn't be brought back to life?

It was those kinds of doubts which made Belphegor so concerned that she dreaded the thought of her older sister going up to the woodshop out back, entering it, crossing over its threshold, and risk her life making things out of wood.

Despite representing Sloth, one of the seven deadly sins of Christianity, Belphegor literally prayed to that religion's God, and the benevolent gods and goddesses of all the other religions, including ones she didn't know, to keep her older sister safe and sound while she was working in there. It was ironic that she, gaining power from one of those sins, would pray to deities dedicated to helping people to watch over her older sister.

Of course, a more logical explanation was that Leviathan was just nothing short of amazing when it came to woodworking. She always knew what to do, how the tools and machines worked and when to use them, and which pieces of wood were good for cutting. Each time she went inside, she would create something or work on a project she already started, and when she came out she'd always keep everyone updated on her progress.

Every time she left the woodshop in one piece, Belphegor felt relieved, happy that her older sister was safe and sound. But every time she went back in, Belphegor felt her heart sink even deeper than before.

Sometimes she thought that Leviathan was only doing that just to make her worry and to scare her, not caring about her feelings at all. It wouldn't be the first time that happened if it were true; her sisters all teased her from time to time and slightly enjoyed giving her a small scare as a harmless joke.

But what Leviathan was doing was more than a harmless joke. She was practically throwing her life away by setting foot into that woodshop! Was she trying to give her younger sister a heart attack or something?!

Belphegor half wanted to yell at her older sister for doing something so frightening and beg her to stop by pleading with her to give up woodworking and find something safer to do, something that wouldn't kill her—she'd even go as far as going down on her hands and knees and constantly beg her with a large barrage or pleases if it came to that.

She really would do anything for her sisters, so if she had to make them give up something dangerous, so be it; their safety was far more important to Belphegor.

But she knew she could never do that; after all, she was proper Furniture. Besides, she was sure Leviathan would ignore her pleas and scold her for attempting to make her give up the one thing which made her better than her sisters.

Even now as she stood directly in front of the woodshop's door, leading into what could've been a place as equally terrible as Hell—if not much worse than that—Belphegor could only shudder while swallowing a lump in her throat.

It was nearly time for dinner, so her older sister, Lucifer, asked her to go tell Leviathan that the food was almost ready. Because she always found it rude to say no, Belphegor did as she was asked to and went out into the backyard, all the while wishing she could've just found something else to do so that she could be busy—looking busy was just a terrible lie, and Belphegor always felt ashamed whenever she tried to lie, which was why she always ended up telling the truth—but that was impossible since there wasn't anything for her to do.

Oh why did she have to be the one to do this? Why couldn't she hand this tiny little chore off to someone else?

She couldn't ask Ange or one of her other sisters to go with her because they were busy doing other things. Sure, some of them weren't really busy since they were relaxing instead, but Belphegor didn't want to bother them. Besides, due to her shyness and her timid nature, she was way too scared to ask anyone—even Ange and her sisters—for help, so the job of going to the woodshop and telling Leviathan that dinner was just about ready fell to her and her alone.

If she hadn't been in the kitchen while the food and drinks were being prepared, maybe she wouldn't have been asked to do this in the first place. Of course, because she was so terrified of eating or drinking anything that could've been poisonous or spiked, she had to always stay in the kitchen and watch the food be prepared so she would know that it wasn't dangerous to her health—and Ange's health and the health of her sisters, though they all knew the food was safe to eat.

It was sort of an eating disorder for her, one of the many anxieties she possessed. The only people who knew of it were Ange, her sisters, and Ronove. She was grateful they all let her stay in the kitchen and watch the food be prepared, but it just made her feel terrible that she had to be given special treatment because of her anxieties. She wanted to be useful to others; not drag them down and be a burden to them by needing special attention. It just made her feel so uncomfortable and scared that she needed to be treated gently because of how fragile she was, which was why she sometimes wished she was just a normal girl.

Belphegor shook her head and took a deep breath to clear her mind. Ange and her sisters always told her to stop worrying about those kinds of things, but she couldn't help it. Thinking about it made her feel nervous and sick, but not thinking about it frightened her while making her feel really nauseas. For now, she tried to keep her mind on what she had come here to do.

She was supposed to go in and tell Leviathan about dinner, so she might as well just open the door and go on in.

But maybe she should've knocked first and then went in; or knock first, wait for an answer from Leviathan, and then open the door; or open the door, knock to get her older sister's attention, and finally say her piece.

Belphegor shook her head once more. She was over-thinking things again, a habit she had great difficulty trying to get rid of because of her shyness, her timidity, and the anxiety she always felt deep in the pit of her stomach. If she suddenly became nauseas she might feel too sick to eat—if that happened, Beelzebub could have her dinner if she was still hungry after devouring her own food.

In any case, she finally made her decision and, with much hesitation, stepped up to the woodshop door and balled her hand into a fist. Raising her already trembling arm up, she lightly knocked on the door…

And found that her decision seemed to have already been made for her, as the door had been slightly ajar, softly creaking on its hinges as the wind then blew it open. Although it was somewhat creepy, the sound was still a significant improvement—the last door was made of metal and creaked loudly because it was so rusted, but Leviathan had gone to the hardware store to order a wooden door for it the last time they were all out in the city. It was a little odd how the door was made of wood, but the Stake of Envy said that it was all part of the woodshop's charm, so she wanted to make the building as wooded as possible.

Yet despite having already gone over how she'd tell Leviathan that dinner was nearly ready for the hundredth time in just five minutes, Belphegor was totally unprepared for the onslaught of sound coming from within the woodshop. It was so loud that she could still hear it even when she had covered her ears.

Squealing in pain since her ears were now hurting so bad she might go deaf, Belphegor closed her eyes and tried to shut the door. Unfortunately she missed the doorknob and stumbled inside, nearly falling after losing her balance. Luckily she managed to regain her balance just in time for her to narrowly escape being hit on the head by a piece of wood.

Her eyes now wide open, Belphegor turned her head to see Leviathan standing by some strange machine that had a sort of lever attached to it with a circular thing on the end.

A radio was playing music on a shelf on the opposite side of the room, just behind the direction the Stake of Envy was facing. Belphegor couldn't tell if it was rock or metal—it certainly sounded like one of the two since it wasn't at all like those pop songs Ange and Asmodeus liked so much—and from the sound of it, it must have been an English song, one Leviathan was singing along to since she knew the words.

"Leviathan!" She called out, but to no avail. "Leviathan, p-please t-turn th-that down!"

Belphegor rarely raised her voice whether she was in public or by herself, so when she actually did speak up nobody listened to her. Usually it was because she was very quiet due to her shyness and timidity, plus she talked really fast just to try getting her point across, which was very difficult to do considering how nobody understood a word she said since her rabid-fire speech caused her to stutter her words so they came out unclearly. She had tried to make excuses for that and her silence, but they never worked anyway; coming from a girl who was way too terrified to open up to others, those excuses meant nothing. They were lies too, only now she actually had a good reason to explain why her older sister couldn't hear her.

Belphegor hadn't known that Leviathan was always playing music while she was cutting up the wood with those scary machines; though if she were to tell Ange or one of her sisters why she couldn't tell the Stake of Envy about dinner, she felt they'd believe her since they seemed to know all about it. That belief didn't stem from some wild guess she'd take a shot at just to save herself from being pressured by the others when they asked her why Leviathan wasn't coming to dinner or where she was. Belphegor had observed them going out to the woodshop on a number of occasions, so it was only natural they'd know Leviathan had music on.

Knowing that the only way to get Leviathan to hear her was to turn down the music—or better yet, shut off the radio—Belphegor walked over to the shelf where the radio was and looked at it. The thing was a rather strange piece of technology she never laid eyes upon, so her efforts at turning the blasted thing down or off would've been in vain. There were two circular knobs on the front, along with a small switch with a label underneath that had the word 'power' on it.

Now Belphegor was aware that the word 'power' had something to do with getting stronger, but she had no idea that objects would turn off or on when the word applied to a switch or a button. She was smart enough to know that a lever went back forth, but she didn't know the mechanics that made it move in those directions. Technology was always a difficult subject she couldn't wrap her head around, as proven by her getting confused over how the TV remote functioned.

Furthermore, she was still largely illiterate, but she had made a tiny fraction of progress in her lessons. So far Ange managed to get past an eighth of the words that began with the first letter of the Japanese alphabet while she was teaching Belphegor how to read, but the Stake of Sloth still had a long ways to go before she reached the section of the dictionary where the word 'power' was located. Then she'd be able to figure out that 'power' also meant to turn electronic devices on and off.

Bringing her hand up to the knob on the left, she turned it to the right and then yanked her hand away, covering her ears and squealing again as what she had done just made the radio louder. Opening her eyes slightly, Belphegor tried the other knob, hoping that it would shut off the radio. When nothing happened, the switch was her last resort. If that didn't work she'd have to either go back and tell Ange or one of her sisters that she couldn't turn the radio off so she could let Leviathan know about dinner.

Of course, both options had their drawbacks, leaving her between a rock and a tight place. For one thing, if she were to just leave the woodshop and let Ange or one of her other sisters talk to Leviathan, they'd be disappointed in her for not being able to do so much as a simple task and for complaining about how difficult it was. On the other hand, Belphegor was just way too frightened to step up to her older sister, especially in this sort of scenario. Leviathan was standing next to a machine that could've practically killed her—when applying that simple logic to the situation, Belphegor believed it wasn't smart to use something so dangerous, but suicidal.

She could have pulled her older sister away from it to save her life, but she'd be risking her own life too. Plus Leviathan would probably get mad at her for taking her away from a project she was working on. Ange and her other sisters would probably also get mad at her for doing something completely stupid—it did sound stupid, considering that this was the first time Belphegor ever approached the woodshop and entered it. Leviathan was almost always in the woodshop, meaning that the Stake of Envy had experience dealing with the tools and machines, whereas the Stake of Sloth had no experience whatsoever.

Oh decisions, decisions, and their unfortunate results.

Belphegor truly was the most unluckiest person in the world, and quite possibly the most awkward girl ever.

In any case, the switch was the only thing left she hadn't tried yet. However, just as she was about to press it, Belphegor suddenly screamed in terror when she heard a sound louder than the music. She couldn't tell what it was since she closed her eyes, but she definitely knew it came from behind her, yet she didn't have the courage to see what it was. Besides, whatever the thing was, it frightened her so badly that she literally jumped so high that she could cling to one of the blades connected to the ceiling fan—in fact, she certainly was clinging to it at this moment, trembling uncontrollably as her teeth chattered, her eyes completely wide with fright while she turned from entirely pale to totally ashen. Her heartbeat spiked in her chest while her breathing became rather jagged, coming out in short, sharp bursts.

It would've been humiliating for her if she was seen by her sisters. They'd certainly laugh at her when they saw how she had both her arms and legs wrapped around the blade of the fan's propeller. Though, technically Leviathan would've been the first to spot her, and then she'd relate Belphegor's hilarious predicament to the others.

Luckily the fan hadn't been turned on because it was slightly chilly outside. Leviathan hadn't opened the windows just yet since she wanted to keep the woodshop nice and toasty, making sure that the temperature was just right so it was warm inside. However, she would open them and turn the fan on as soon as she was finished with her latest project for the day, so Belphegor only had a limited amount of time left until she had to get down. Of course, it was common sense that she let go of the blade she held onto before then, otherwise she'd get dizzy and maybe a little nauseous from the spinning propeller. If she threw up while hanging from the fan, she didn't think Leviathan would be too happy with her for throwing up all over the woodshop—and if any of her vomit got on her older sister, the Stake of Envy would probably be really pissed.

Tremulously turning her head back to look behind her, Belphegor could see that Leviathan had her back to her, obviously busy cutting a wooden plank with some strange machine that had a saw attached to it. The machine was currently making a very scary sound as Leviathan pulled a handle she was grasping closer to her, freaking her poor, little sister out when she noticed the saw moving towards her older sister as well. If Belphegor hadn't been totally terrified right about now, and also if she was a lot braver than she normally was, she'd rescue her older sister from that horrifying contraption. Unfortunately she wasn't some heroic savior wanting to protect everyone she cherished from the cold clutches of death, so all poor Belphegor could do was shut her eyes as tight as she could and turn her head away, expecting Leviathan's suicide any moment now.

However…

"There, that looks nice and straight. Shade of it doesn't seem to match with the other pieces, but it might do."

And so, after the saw had quieted down once the handle was brought up, it turned out that Leviathan had not accidently killed herself, but was perfectly fine—if covered in some sawdust from the plank she cut.

Belphegor wasn't aware of this, though; she could still hear the saw ringing in her ears even though it had already ceased making that dreadful screech. She was also imagining that she'd find her older sister's blood all over the woodshop while her corpse was stuck to the saw, so the Stake of Sloth didn't dare to open her eyes, lest she find her suspicions to be true. She couldn't even hear the trapdoor down to the woodshop's storage room open up when the Stake of Envy pulled the doors towards her and climb down the ladder with the plank in hand. Of course, the radio was still blaring that god-awful music, so even if Belphegor could hear over it, she'd still be totally unaware that Leviathan went below to store the plank with the rest of the wood—

"Belphegor! Belphegor, can you hear me?!"

—and that Ange was now shouting above the music in an attempt to get her attention; though Belphegor never saw her master enter because her eyes were still shut tight due to how terrified she was of looking upon her older sister's bloody corpse.

"Ah, god dammit! I've told Leviathan to keep the volume down on this damn thing, yet she just has to always have it on full blast!"

Sauntering over to the radio while covering her ears, Ange lowered the volume—by turning the first knob Belphegor had tried just minutes before to the left—and then turned around to look up at the timid Stake above her.

"Belphegor!" she yelled again and then raised her voice when the Stake of Sloth still couldn't hear her, "Belphegor!"

Frightened, Belphegor squeaked, her eyes finally jolting open as she was forced to look down at Ange. "U-Um," she stuttered timidly, feeling really nervous and apprehensive over the witch's sudden appearance in the woodshop, "y-yes, M-Milady—I-I, u-uh, I-I mean M-Miss Ange? I-Is th-there, u-uh, s-something I-I may h-help you with?"

"Well, for starters, you could tell me what you're doing up there." Ange replied, making Belphegor blush in embarrassment when she realized that she was still clinging to the fan's propeller blade. "Oh, never mind. Just get down from there while I go find Leviathan."

"U-Um, I-I realize th-that I-I sh-shouldn't be asking th-this, b-but…" Belphegor started to speak, but then stopped in hesitation, fearful that she was going to be ridiculed for being unable to follow simple instructions.

"But what, Belphegor?" Ange then asked, keen on hearing what Belphegor had to say. "If you don't speak up, then how will I know what it is you're trying to say?"

Belphegor winced slightly, knowing that Ange was right, if she was a tad harsh in getting the point across. Still trembling uncontrollably, she swallowed a lump in her throat before she worked up the tiny bit of courage needed to ask her question. "U-Um, how d-do I-I, u-uh…u-um, get down?"

"I should think that's obvious." Ange stated, crossing her arms. "Just hover down. You've done it before, so it should be simple now."

Belphegor swallowed another lump in her throat and nodded. "Y-yes, b-but…"

Looking down at the floor below, she felt her stomach tie into a knot, making her feel really nauseas even though the floor was just about seven feet down. Her breath got caught in her throat as she began to get dizzy from being on a high place, despite the fact that she could just hover down like Ange had said. Unfortunately, Belphegor wasn't the kind of girl who believed something as small as this could be easily overcome if her will was strong enough.

Now she knew what it felt like when stuntmen or survivors in the middle of nowhere crossed over unstable lengths of rope by wrapping their arms and legs around it—only in her case she was above what she was clinging to, rather than underneath it.

Seeing Belphegor's obvious hesitation, Ange brought her hand up to her forehead and sighed. "Alright, Belphegor" she said as she moved beneath the propeller blade the Stake of Sloth clung to and held her arms out, "drop down."

Belphegor's eyes widened as her gaze zipped back to her master. "Wh-Wha—"

"You heard me." Ange stated while staring back up at the timid Stake above her. "Drop down."

Believing that she was going to be scolded for trying to disobey a direct order, Belphegor swallowed yet another lump in her throat, her face turning red from embarrassment. "W-Well, u-um, o-okay…" she stuttered, taking one last look at the floor before giving it a shot.

Untangling her legs first, she brought them on top of the fan before slowly bringing them closer to her chest as best she could. Then, once she finished swallowing the fourth lump that had gotten caught in her throat, she took a deep breath and slowly, ever so slowly, released the blade from the grip of her right hand. Just when Belphegor thought she was in luck her hand slipped off the propeller, causing her to lose her balance because she had accidently lurched forward when she tried to grab the blade again.

She shrieked fearfully as she fell, closing her eyes while she braced herself for the impact when she painfully made contact with the floor.

But that injury never came. Belphegor didn't feel any pain at all. She could feel something against her back and the back of the bottom of her knees, but it wasn't the warm concrete floor she expected to hit.

Cracking her eyes open slightly, she looked over to the other side of the woodshop, slowly feeling relieved that she had managed to escape from harm intact.

However, there was one thing that confused her. If she was looking at the door sideways like this, what was under her exactly?

"See, Belphegor? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Quickly turning her head the other way, Belphegor's eyes jolted all the way open when she saw Ange and realized that her master was holding her the same way a groom held his bride. It was especially all the more embarrassing for the poor Stake when she noticed that her arms were wrapped around Ange's neck.

Ange was about to ask her why she looked so startled, but she never got the chance to since Belphegor suddenly shrieked again and immediately jumped out of her arms. The Stake of Sloth stumbled forward once her feet touched the floor and she ended up tripping over them, nearly falling into a small pile of the sawdust that covered the floor when she landed flat on her face.

"Jeez, Belphegor," Ange said as she stepped towards her friend and knelt down to help her up, "what's gotten into you? Are you alright?"

Belphegor squeaked in fear in response to her master's questions as soon as Ange touched her, immediately jumping to her feet and backing up into the table behind her. In her despair she accidently knocked over several paint cans and small tools and fumbled to catch them before they hit the floor, yet her efforts were completely unsuccessful.

"Belphegor!" Ange said as she tried to keep the flustered Stake still for a few moments. "Belphegor, calm down! What's the matter with you?!"

Now standing up straight thanks to Ange holding her in place, Belphegor tipped her head down so her master wouldn't see how flustered she was. When the witch placed her hand underneath her chin the poor Stake tried her best to fight against Ange's grasp, but it was no use. Ange got the upper hand, and now she could very well see that Belphegor's whole face was even redder than a tomato.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, "Why are you getting so tense right now? And why is your face all red like that?"

Belphegor tried to answer, but all she could do was babble like a complete idiot as she started hyperventilating and trembling uncontrollably. She tried to control herself, but her attempts ended in failure because she already started having another one of her panic attacks like she usually did.

Ange became concerned and immediately looked all around the woodshop for a paper bag Belphegor could breathe into, rushing over to a shelf near the door when she found what she had been looking for and returning to the Stake's side so she didn't fall over again.

"Here, breathe into this." She spoke softly while holding the bag out to Belphegor. Unfortunately the poor Stake couldn't hear her very well or even take the bag due to how bad this panic attack was, so Ange had to hold the bag over her mouth for her. Belphegor clutched at her chest as she breathed, her eyes wide with fright as she turned even paler than she usually was.

Eventually she managed to calm down a couple minutes later, if only a little, but she felt much better than when she was having a serious panic attack.

Ange moved closer to her and rubbed her back soothingly to provide some comfort for her friend. "Do you feel a little better now?" she asked once Belphegor's breathing had relaxed and she had stopped trembling slightly.

After she slowly nodded in response, Belphegor turned her head slightly to look at Ange, then tipped her head down in shame. She didn't have the courage to look her master in the eye and tell her how she felt when she was in Ange's arms, being held like a bride. Still, the witch expected an explanation from her in regards to how she reacted afterwards, so Belphegor swallowed another lump in her throat as she started trembling again.

"U-Um, M-Miss A-Ange…" she stuttered, her voice so soft that she was whispering, "I-I, u-uh, u-um…I-I, u-um…" She tried to find the words needed to express herself, but they weren't there—not that she was looking hard enough. No matter how hard she tried to explain herself, Belphegor was still the shy, timid girl who could never speak her own mind or confide in someone else.

It was a shame, really.

Belphegor never felt close to anybody, so it was extremely difficult for her to open up to others when it came to talking about herself. Socializing with others was not something she felt confident enough to do, which was why she preferred to be alone all by herself.

But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. At least she didn't have to do anything in a group or converse with others all the time. She was usually left alone to do things at her own pace, so nobody bothered her while she was in the middle of something. Belphegor was grateful for that, as it meant she wouldn't have problems related to herself; although, there were times when she couldn't do something on her own. When faced with one such task, she either had to choose between failure or get help from someone. Unfortunately, because of her shyness and timidity, Belphegor always chose to fail over the option of working together with someone, which meant that she was always the one who got in trouble for refusing help to get something difficult done and for doing a terrible job in the first place.

Noticing that Belphegor was blushing, Ange opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated when she saw the poor girl start to cry a little. Watching the Stake's whimpering form begin to tremble again, she realized that now wasn't a good time to inquire about her reaction just now. Belphegor obviously needed time to rest so she could recover from her panic attack, so Ange would give her a few days before privately bringing up the matter again so long as the Stake was comfortable talking about it.

Maybe she could let Belphegor eat in her room rather than force her to eat in the dining room with all her sisters.

Ange wanted Belphegor to feel comfortable so she wouldn't have to go through another panic attack like the one she just had. To try and cheer her friend up, she smiled warmly and placed her hand on the Stake's shoulder, gently lifting her head up again to make eye contact with her. "It's okay, Belphegor," she said in a soft tone of voice, "you don't have to tell me what's wrong right now. You can talk to me whenever you feel you're ready, okay?"

Although she sort of half expected Ange to say something like that, it still came as a shock to Belphegor that her master was showing concern for her. Despite having already been familiar with the witch showing her kindness, the Stake of Sloth still couldn't get used to such feelings shown towards her.

Seeing how Belphegor was still very uncomfortable, Ange stepped in front of her and wrapped her arms around the Stake's waist to draw her close. Surprised at how Ange was holding her, Belphegor brought her arms close to her chest. Feeling like she had been caught off guard, she tried to regain her composure in front of her master, but wasn't having much success. She was really anxious and her nerves were now frayed, yet Ange's warm smile and the feeling of her arms around her waist were able to calm her down somewhat.

Thinking that she should've returned the favor—unsure of whether that was the best analogy to use—Belphegor wrapped her own arms around Ange's waist and blushed in embarrassment. "O-Oh, u-um, u-uh…u-um, o-okay, I-I, u-uh, guess?" She whispered softly, stuttering her words as she tipped her head down but looked up at Ange from underneath her bangs.

Ange merely closed her eyes and giggled, glad to have offered the flustered Stake some comfort. Opening her eyes, her smile disappeared when she noticed Belphegor's blush turn redder. If she made her feel even more uncomfortable, the poor girl might have another panic attack. Not wanting that to happen, Ange's smile returned as her eyelids lowered partially. "Don't worry, Belphegor," she said softly, "you don't have to feel embarrassed around me. I'm your friend; I'd do anything to help you, and I'm sorry for laughing."

"O-Okay, u-um, Miss Ange. A-As you, u-uh, wish." Belphegor said, unwrapping her arms and gently pulling them back to her chest. "U-Um, th-thank y-you…?"

"You're quite welcome." Ange said as she released the Stake of Sloth from her grasp and headed over to the ladder to descend it. "Just stay up here until I come back with Leviathan. Then I'll bring you both back and make some dinner for you both." She said as she climbed down into the woodshop's storage room to find the Stake of Envy, leaving Belphegor alone with all the scary tools and machinery.

The timid Stake would've requested to go with her, but as she and Ange had been the only two people up top while her older sister was down in the storage room, she had to follow her master's orders straight to the letter. If one of her other sisters had been here, then it might've been okay for her to accompany Ange down the ladder.

Although Belphegor was seriously worried that Ange might not come back, she could discern her master's voice coming from somewhere beneath the floorboards under her feet. It didn't sound like she was in any danger whatsoever, and she also heard Leviathan's voice too, so she guessed Ange and her older sister really were okay.

To try and take her mind off of such disturbing thoughts, Belphegor looked around the room she was in and eyed the various tools hanging on a nearby wall. Everything there had been neatly organized, from the hammers that hung down by the table beneath them, to the screwdrivers near the machine Leviathan had been using.

On the other side of the woodshop, to her right, Belphegor gazed upon boxes of gloves and another box filled with masks meant to cover a person's mouth to prevent any particle-like material floating around in the air from being inhaled. There were other boxes on the shelves by the ones with gloves and masks, but the shy Stake was too nervous to approach them and take a peek.

Over by the trapdoor was a cabinet stuffed with various paint cans of all sizes and colors that Belphegor refused to go near, out of fear that the cabinet might suddenly fall on top of her, crushing her beneath its sheer weight while the paint spilled on top of her—if she was truly unlucky, the paint might just drown her.

In the end gazing over everything in the woodshop was a bad idea and Belphegor only made herself feel even more uncomfortable than when she was with Ange just a few minutes ago.

The tools, the machines, everything was a potential weapon that could cause some fatal injuries, or even kill a person. They might even turn on their wielder if handled improperly.

Feeling slightly dizzy and a little lightheaded at the thought of waiting in here any longer, Belphegor unconsciously took several steps backwards as she tried to collect her bearings.

What was taking Ange so long? Shouldn't she and Leviathan have come up by now?

By now Belphegor could no longer hear her master and her older sister talking because her ears were ringing from all the horrible sounds she imagined these tools and machines making. Her sight was also becoming incredibly blurred and cloudy due to fear overtaking her like a tidal wave swallowing up a surfer. As her breathing and her heartbeat started to speed up rapidly, her complexion turned very pale once again.

It was too much to take in all at once. The tension was getting higher and more dangerous as it took its toll on poor Belphegor's sanity. If she was in here any longer, she might just lose her mind and have another panic attack—one she feared she might not ever be able to recover from. In fact, she was probably having one right now without realizing it!

She simply had to get out of there!

There was just one problem: _she couldn't see the door anymore!_

How could she escape when she couldn't see the door?!

Oh, if only Ange hadn't told her to wait for her and Leviathan!

Belphegor should've been back inside her master's manor by now!

Why were Ange and Leviathan wasting so much time down there?! What the hell were they doing?!

It was too much. Too much!

Suddenly, unaware of what was behind her, Belphegor stumbled again and tripped over her own two feet a second time. Quickly whirling around, her eyes grew wide with fright when they fell upon the machine she saw Leviathan at—and she became even more terrified when she realized that she was going to fall against it.

Instinctively she threw her arms out to grab at the table so she could steady herself, but her hands accidently shot past the sharp saw blade sticking out of the machine and gripped the cylindrical piece past it. Her left sleeve got caught on the edge of the blade and ripped, allowing for the blade's hot steel to rub up against her skin. Belphegor shrieked in pain and fear as she tried to yank her arms away, but unfortunately her sleeve was now stuck between the guard and the blade.

If she waited for Ange and Leviathan to come back up, they could've freed her from the horrifying machine; however, Belphegor was already in a state of panic, so even if they had climbed up the ladder now, it would've been too late to prevent what was going to happen.

In her mind, Belphegor desperately prayed for all of this to end and attempted to do something about it, but there was nothing she could do as she had been thrown off balance when she stumbled and tripped.

She was left helpless, her fright increasing drastically as her body fell against the handle of the saw and pushed it down…

She couldn't tell what was drowned out over what: the saw over her screams or her screams over the saw.

It didn't matter since Belphegor finally managed to free herself from the dangerous machine and stumbled backwards into the counter behind her. Slumping to the floor, she raised her arm up to stare in shock at the price she had to pay for her freedom. Unfortunately for her, most things that had to be purchased in a store did have a small tax on them, and this item certainly did come with its own tax.

Her red jacket and white shirt had now been torn, with the pieces that were ripped off still jammed into the saw. When her body had fallen against the machine, the handle was pushed so far down that it was now stuck in place with the blade still spinning—or trying to spin, anyway.

Then, as if the machine was punishing the poor Stake for breaking it, even though she didn't mean to, the blade suddenly sparked and shot right out from the guard at a terrifying speed…

…and embedded itself directly into counter the traumatized Stake was slumped against, just a fourth of a centimeter away from her head.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Belphegor turned her head slightly to stare at the deadly weapon, being careful so as not to cut herself—or worse…_kill herself_—on the razor sharp edge of the saw's blade. Horrified, her complexion went from pale to ashen in a split second as she began to tremble uncontrollably. The pupils in her eyes dilated while they grew wide, and her breathe got caught in her throat as her heart skipped several beats.

Then she started to cry.

"What is going on up here?!" Ange exclaimed as she came up the ladder, now finished with helping Leviathan perform a quick reorganization and inventory of all the wood down in the storage room. "Belphegor what's—oh, my god! Belphegor!"

As soon as her eyes fell upon the Stake of Sloth's quivering, bloody form, Ange got really scared and ran over to see if her friend was okay.

"Belphegor! Belphegor, are you alright?!" She tried to inquire, but couldn't get a word out of the poor, traumatized girl. Noticing that Belphegor was holding her arm, Ange quickly took it in her grasp and tried to examine the Stake's arm. Squealing in pain and fright, the Stake of Sloth yanked her arm back and shoved her master away before falling on her side, wailing loudly like a child having lost a favorite toy or had gotten hurt—in Belphegor's case, it was the latter.

If Belphegor thought clutching at her arm was going to make it feel better, or have it heal so she wouldn't be in pain anymore, she was wrong. Her wound hurt like hell, and the pressure she was applying only made it worse. If she tightened her grip to the point where it was bone-breaking, she might just snap her arm in two; thus making the pain even more unbearable.

"Belphegor, calm down!" Ange shouted above the Stake's cries, attempting to settle her down long enough so she could get a look at the injury Belphegor sustained. "Everything's going to be fine! You're okay; you'll be fine!"

Having already wrapped one arm around her friend's waist after approaching her again, Ange desperately tried to pry the Stake's hand off her arm. Despite Belphegor's attempts to fight back, the witch eventually succeeded and gasped when she saw how deep the wound on her arm was.

"Oh, my god, Belphegor! Oh, my god, no!" Horrified, Ange looked around for something she could use to wrap around the gash formed by the saw, but it wasn't really any good as there wasn't much of anything that could be used, aside from some dirty rags littering one of the shelves. It seemed that those rags would have to be substituted in for towels anyway since they were the only things that actually might stop the bleeding.

"Hold on, Belphegor! Just wait right here! I'll be right back, I promise!" Ange yelled out as she immediately jumped to her feet and ran over to the shelf, frantically searching for a rag that was long enough to wrap around Belphegor's arm.

"Hey, Ange, what's happening up—oh…oh no…no, no, no, no, no!"

It was at that moment Leviathan ascended the ladder and popped her head through the opening of the trapdoor, and once her eyes fell upon the now broken saw she had just been using, she freaked out big time.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! Oh, this can't be happening! This is impossible! How could it break?! I was just using it! Oh, this is a total disaster!"

If she was going to go completely insane, now would've been the time—though it was only going to get worse from here.

As Leviathan's breathing grew heavier and more rabid, she immediately examined the whole machine to try and figure out what the problem was. Quickly grabbing a flathead screwdriver that had been lying next to the saw, the Stake of Envy became frantic while she unscrewed the screws holding the guard to the saw. Her panic only increased with each screw that fell from the sockets and dropped on the table.

Finally, once the last screw was out, allowing for her to pull the guard off the handle and pull both sides apart, Leviathan discovered the thing that had destroyed her precious saw…

…and she flipped.

There, stuck to the guard…were the shredded scraps of a red jacket and a white shirt.

There were only six suspects she could name who wore red jackets and white shirts, and all of them were her sisters. It could've been any one of them, or it could've been more than one of them—hell, they all could've been involved in the destruction of her saw.

Leviathan was way too furious to even entertain the thought that it might've been an accident. She was so pissed that _something_ she could finally do, _something _that she alone among the Stakes of Purgatory could do, _something_ that her sisters couldn't do, was taken away from her. It was like she had lost her most cherished treasure, never to see it again.

And it was all because one or more of her sisters—_her damned sisters_—weren't happy with the fact that she finally had something she could do, but they couldn't!

Did they not realize how much woodworking meant to her?! Were they even aware of how much money it was going to cost just to have the saw repaired?! Had the notion gone through their thick skulls that a brand new saw might've cost more than it would probably take to get it fixed?!

Leviathan swore that when she laid her hands on whichever one of her sisters was responsible for the destruction of her saw, she was going to hurt them…_badly_.

If they ended up dead at her hands, that was fine too.

Nothing else mattered to her anymore.

All she cared about was the saw she had used countless times to cut wood for all the projects she worked on.

Without that saw she wouldn't be able to cut wood for another project until it was repaired or until a new one was purchased. It was probably going to be a while before she could tackle a new project, or at least finish one she had already started.

When she had seen the decrepit condition of her saw, Leviathan had initially blocked out everything she could see and hear, save for the sight of what had been her favorite machine in the woodshop. Now that her fury was its peak and boiling over at a frightening pace, she finally paid attention to the blood all over the saw.

Slowly turning around, her left eye twitching angrily while she trembled uncontrollably—out of wrath, rather than fear; something that was expected from Satan—Leviathan looked down at the blood trail on the floor. Following it, she gradually lifted her head up…

…to see Belphegor, slumping against the counter, wailing like a little baby while holding her blood-soaked arm.

If the situation had been different, the Stake of Envy would've been concerned for her little sister, offering whatever help, support, and comfort was needed to make the Stake of Sloth feel better.

But Leviathan was in no mood for that. The evidence proving Belphegor as the culprit was too obvious for her to care.

The trail of blood…

The deep gash on Belphegor's arm…

The shredded red jacket and ripped white shirt…

The saw, which was now embedded in the counter by Belphegor…

All of that painted Belphegor as the perpetrator, the sole person responsible for destroying a valuable, expensive piece of equipment. If her other sisters had been involved, Leviathan would find out which of them had participated in this little plot against her by beating the answers out of her wounded little sister.

Now she had found the one directly responsible for breaking the saw…

…and it was time to make her pay.

Big time.

Belphegor had no idea what was in store for her. She was way too preoccupied with her injury to pay any attention to what was going on around her, let alone think straight—of course, she was about to learn that she wasn't the only one not thinking straight. All the poor girl could do was wail in pain, her tears blurring her eyes so badly she couldn't even see, while her heart pounded rabidly against her ribcage within her chest. The pain was far too intense for her to handle, so she believed that she was going to die of blood loss sometime soon.

However, it appeared that the cold, bony fingers of Death were knocking a lot earlier than expected.

"YOU!"

Belphegor's eyes jolted open in shock as she got startled by a voice louder than her own. Whirling her head in the direction the voice came from, she saw Leviathan slowly approaching her…and her older sister looked absolutely pissed.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, BELPHEGOR?!" The Stake of Envy shouted in rage as she gradually got closer to her little sister. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THE HELL YOU JUST DID?!"

Terrified, Belphegor screamed as she kept wailing and tried to escape from her sister's wrath, but it was too late. Leviathan quickly caught up to her and hoisted her bloody form up onto the counter before seizing her little sister's neck so she could throttle her.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT DAMN SAW COSTS?!" The enraged Stake yelled as she strangled the life out of Belphegor. "ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOU'VE JUST DESTROYED SOMETHING THAT I WAS ACTUALLY GOOD AT?! IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU JUST HAD TO COME IN HERE AND BREAK SOMETHING THAT TRULY MATTERED TO ME, DIDN'T YOU?!"

Belphegor couldn't breathe. She felt her eyes roll up into their sockets as she struggled to loosen her older sister's grip, but it was no good. She was losing air, and fast, plus Leviathan was starting to crush her throat. If this went on any longer, Belphegor really was going to die.

Fortunately, Ange was there in the nick of time to pull the seething Stake off of her.

"Leviathan, let of her!" The witch shouted while grabbing the Stake of Envy from behind and yanking her away. "What did Belphegor do to deserve this?!"

"What did she do to deserve this?! WHAT DID SHE DO TO DESERVE THIS?!" Leviathan repeated Ange's question as she turned on her before pointing to the broken saw. "Just look at this, Ange! Look at it! Belphegor just destroyed an expensive piece of equipment I was using!"

"Belphegor's not the sort of person who would do something like that!" Ange countered in Belphegor's defense. "I'm sure it was just an accident! She didn't do it on purpose!"

"Look at the saw, Ange! Does this look like 'an accident' to you! I bet Belphegor did this because she was jealous of what I had, of what I could do!"

"Look who's calling the kettle black, Leviathan! You're the only one who usually complains about that! Besides, you could just send the saw to the repair shop to have it fixed!"

"But what if it can't be fixed?! Do you even know how much it'll cost just to purchase a new saw if the old one isn't repairable?! And even if it could be repaired, do you know how much it'll cost to get it fixed?!"

By now Ange had already lost her patience. Arguing with Leviathan wasn't doing any good, and Belphegor desperately needed medical attention. She had to get her to the hospital so that gash in her arm could be treated.

"Oh, will you just shut up, Leviathan?!" She shouted angrily. "If you're so concerned about the damn thing then do something about it! Killing Belphegor won't get you anywhere!"

"Well, at least it'll make me feel better!" Leviathan countered furiously, shaking so much from her anger that it felt like she was going to erupt and send the top of her head up in the air like in a cartoon. "And where the hell are you going with Belphegor, Ange?! I'm still not done with her yet!"

"To the hospital!" Ange replied rudely while she brought the Stake of Sloth out of the woodshop. "And if I were you, Leviathan, I'd be going to the repair shop right about now before the place closes for the day!"

As the two of them stepped outside away from Belphegor's seething sister, the door suddenly slammed shut behind them. The poor Stake was nearly thrown off balance because she had been startled, but Ange kept her steady as they rushed back to the manor. Inside the woodshop behind them, they both heard Leviathan scream in rage followed by things being thrown around, but the noise subsided the further away they got.

Coming up to the back porch, Belphegor watched as Ange threw the door open and brought her over to the bathroom nearby. Grabbing a towel out of the closet, the witch had the Stake sit down on the side of the tub while she wrapped the wound up in the towel.

"Good, that should stop the bleeding for now." Ange said as she went to the sink to wash the blood off her hands. "Just stay here and hold that towel there, Belphegor, while I get the hospital on the phone, okay? I'll be right back, so don't you worry."

"M-Miss A-Ange…" Belphegor called out weakly, already feeling dizzy from losing too much blood and from having her throat crushed by Leviathan's grip. She was still crying, but fortunately she stopped wailing after having calmed down a little—she couldn't wail anyway because her older sister throttled her so hard she most likely damaged Belphegor's throat and made it sore.

"Yes, Belphegor, what is it?" Her master asked in concern, coming over to kneel down in front of the Stake of Sloth and place her hands on her lap. "Does it hurt real badly?"

Belphegor nodded, even though the answer was very obvious. "U-Um, u-uh, M-Miss A-Ange…" She whispered softly, but made sure Ange could hear her. "I-I'm, u-um…s-s-sorry…"

Ange stared at Belphegor, worrying that Leviathan had made her little sister feel like it was her fault for what had happened. "Why are you apologizing?"

"D-Did I-I-I,u-uh…d-do s-something…w-wrong?" Belphegor asked timidly, unsure of what she had done, but believing that she was to blame for whatever it was.

"No…no of course not." Ange tried her best to reassure her friend. "Why do you feel you did something wrong? Is it because of what your sister said? If it is, then whatever happened back there wasn't your fault; I'm sure of it. It was an accident, right?"

Her voice was soft and gentle. Ange had to keep it like that so she could console Belphegor and help her feel better. She usually had to use that tone of voice when conversing with her because the shy, timid Stake was very apprehensive about conversing with others. Not only that, but she also had to choose her words carefully, lest she upset Belphegor even more by saying something to make her really uncomfortable, nervous, and scared.

Confused and pretty scared at the same time, Belphegor tipped her head down as she continued to tremble fearfully. "I-I-I…I-I d-don't know…I-I-I…" She was obviously traumatized after what had happened to her in the woodshop, and that just added onto her own fears and anxieties to make the situation worse for her. "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry…I-I-I'm s-so s-sorry…I-I…"

"It's okay, Belphegor, it's okay." Ange smiled sweetly as she moved her hand up and gently stroked Belphegor's face. "I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong and that you didn't mean to cause what had happened in the woodshop."

"O-Oh, o-okay…" Belphegor tipped her head down, blushing in embarrassment amidst her tear-soaked face.

She still sniffed and whimpered because of the pain she was feeling, but despite how hurt she was, the Stake of Sloth was surprisingly beginning to feel better.

For some odd, inexplicable reason, Belphegor actually loved it when Ange stroked her face. She felt very comfortable when she could feel her face being gently caressed by someone else since the gesture helped calm her down. However, it couldn't be just anyone; it had to be a specific person, and Belphegor believed she found that person.

The only person Belphegor wanted to stroke her face most of all…was Ange. She wanted Ange to be the only person who would stroke her face.

"Do you feel a little better now?" Ange asked as she pulled her hand away.

"A-A little, u-uh, u-um, y-yes…" Belphegor answered, making eye contact with Ange through her bangs. "U-Um, th-thank you M-Miss Ange."

"You're quite welcome, Belphegor." Ange said as she stood up. "Now I've got to go call the hospital and let your sisters know I'm bringing you there tonight, okay?"

"U-Um, u-uh, o-okay, I-I guess?" Belphegor replied, feeling very apprehensive about whether or not this 'hospital' thing seemed like a bright idea. "H-How long are we, u-um, going t-to be th-there?"

Ange glanced down at the towel wrapped around Belphegor's arm and frowned. "Hmmm…judging by how bad that gash on your arm is, I'd say you'd have to stay there for at least a few days or so."

Belphegor's face turned very pale. "S-So I-I h-have to s-stay th-there o-overnight?!"

"For a few nights at the very least, but don't worry." Ange smiled again as she attempted to reassure her friend. "I'll see if I can spend a few nights there with you so you don't have to be alone, alright?"

Belphegor hesitated to respond, but she eventually nodded. With Ange by her side while she was in the hospital, she wouldn't have to feel scared being all alone in such a strange place all by herself, surrounded by a bunch of strangers.

It was going to be fine, though. As long as Ange stayed with her, Belphegor felt she'd be okay in a place like that.

Maybe she could have Ange stroke her face for as long as she wanted her to do.

In any case, Ange had to make an appointment for Belphegor before they left, so she would have to wait a bit while her master was on the phone—hopefully they could leave before Leviathan attempted to slaughter her again.

"Okay," Ange said as she turned around and headed for the door, "I'll go call the hospital now and then we'll go, okay?"

"Y-Yes, o-okay." Belphegor spoke softly. "U-Um, th-thank you, M-Miss Ange…"

"You're very welcome, Belphegor." Ange said before walking out the door and disappearing into the hallway, popping her head back in the bathroom a moment later. "Oh, and I'll have your sisters come in and keep you company while I'm on the phone, alright?"

"A-Alright…" Belphegor shifted uneasily on the side of the tub. "Th-Thank you, M-M-Miss Ange…"

"You're welcome."

And with that, Ange went down the hall in search of the other Stakes and a phone.

Left all by herself in the bathroom, Belphegor looked down at the towel covering the gash on her arm and winced as she moved it a little. It really did hurt like Hell, but it wasn't all bad.

All she had to do was think of something else to take her mind off the pain.

Closing her eyes, Belphegor blushed and smiled happily as she imagined Ange stroking her face.

…

**This took a long while to work on, but I'm glad I finished it in time so I could begin working on another Halloween special for Halloween.**

**Before I forget, I just want to point out that my plans for my fanfiction have changed temporarily because I'm working on an important project and a specific amount of it needs to be finished by a certain deadline. So until that's done, I'll be putting the Fire Emblem-Amnesia: Dark Descent crossover story and **_I Can't_** on hold. The only exception I'm making is the Halloween special because I've done two Halloween specials in the past and I'm not going to quit making them. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I want to pay tribute to it by writing a horror story for the holiday.**

**Of course, after I get done what I need to finish for the project, I have a Christmas special—the very first, and possibly the only, Christmas special from me—I started last year, but never got around to finishing, so I'd like to get that done too.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Umineko; it's owned by 007****th****Expansion.**


	6. I Can't Cook

_I Can't Cook_

"Excuse me, Belphegor?"

Belphegor jumped slightly at the sound of Lucifer's voice. She hadn't expected her older sister to come knocking on her bedroom door at this hour. It was already nine thirty and Belphegor was getting ready for bed.

Usually she'd stay up an extra half hour to read, but the day felt incredibly long and she was exhausted from having to do all the chores that were meant to be done tomorrow, when Ange and her sisters were supposed to have their fair share of work.

Today they had all gone to view some new exhibits in a museum in another city two hours away and Belphegor was allowed to stay home because she had another panic attack a couple days before. Ange did offer to postpone the trip for a few days until she felt better so they could all go together, but the Stake of Sloth insisted she'd be fine on her own while they were gone. Eventually the witch reluctantly allowed it so long as Belphegor took things easy and relaxed, meaning to just read, watch some television, or do something to get her mind off of the other day.

Although Belphegor promised to do just that, the incident from two days ago was still fresh in her mind. They went to a fair that day and were having fun checking out all the attractions. At some point Belphegor got separated from the group and wound up lost and all alone. A good three hours passed by the time everybody found her, and Belphegor was already curled up on the ground in the fetal position. It would've been extremely embarrassing if there was a huge crowd of people surrounding her, thinking she would need medical help for a mental disorder.

Belphegor didn't have a mental disorder—at least, she didn't think she had one—but she knew she'd die of fright with so many strangers observing her pathetic form crying on the ground.

Belphegor felt ashamed of herself for ruining their fun as they left a couple hours earlier than expected. No matter how many times she apologized, they kept telling her it was alright. Eventually they gave up and Ange told her to just forget it. If her panic attack before hadn't made them mad, Belphegor was sure harping over it bothered them to some extent. Of course, she just felt guiltier than before. That was why she chose to keep her mouth shut and not bring the matter up anymore, though she did think of something she could do to make up for ruining their fun.

So as a way of apologizing, Belphegor decided to do tomorrow's chores. That would surely please Ange and her sisters and make them proud of her. Furthermore, work helped kept her focused and it cleared her mind because the menial labor made her forgot all worries. That was why she preferred to be productive rather than have some leisure time—and because she was the Stake of Sloth, a hard working perfectionist.

When everybody returned from the museum, Belphegor expected they'd forgive her for the other day upon seeing how neat and tidy the manor was. Although her sisters were happy she found a way to calm herself, Ange disappointed since she specifically told Belphegor to rest and the poor girl didn't. Ashamed that she screwed up again, Belphegor gradually felt relieved once her master confirmed that she wasn't mad with her.

Even so, Belphegor never said a word for the rest of the day and she avoided everyone out of fear. She ate dinner in her room by herself, though she didn't finish because she was still anxious, despite having stayed in the kitchen while Ange prepared her meal. And now as she was preparing for bed, Belphegor felt she wouldn't get a wink of sleep tonight because Lucifer had to come knocking at her door.

Being a shy, timid introvert with hundreds of anxieties wasn't healthy for someone like her. The individual would forgo anything and perform the strangest of actions to feel safe and secure. Unfortunately, that person would wind up worse than before, despite the aid provided by others. In the end it didn't matter whether somebody helped out or not. The shy, timid introvert would never improve, but worsen instead.

For a while now, Belphegor believed there wasn't really anything to be done for her. She'd already reached the lowest point of the ladder symbolizing her sanity, self-esteem, and confidence. If it wasn't for Ange and her sisters, she'd already be a wreck at the very bottom, in the dark abyss where she'd turn into a shadow of her former self.

If Belphegor ever went that low…she wouldn't be able to come back with or without help. She'd go completely insane with fright and teeter on the edge of suicide, caught in an endless game of tug of war between living in fear of death and killing herself out of fear for whatever bad things happened in life.

As it was, she was currently on the ladder's bottom rung with Ange and her sisters keeping her there. No matter how hard they tried, Belphegor simply wouldn't climb any further.

"Hello, Belphegor?" Lucifer called again, "Are you in there?"

Belphegor squeaked in fright and jumped again as her older sister continued to knock. "U-um, yes, Lucifer, is t-there s-something you need me t-to d-do?" she inquired timidly, not wanting the Stake of Pride to come in despite knowing it would be proper to open the door and let her in.

"May I come in?"

Turning very pale, Belphegor whipped her head around the room, unsure of what to do. Her heartbeat spiked in her chest and she began to tremble uncontrollably as her eyes widened in terror.

She just couldn't allow Lucifer to come in! Her day had already become unbearable and there wasn't anything she could do to keep it from getting worse! Belphegor felt she'd somehow die of fright if her sister stepped in!

"Belphegor, answer me," Lucifer demanded from out in the hall when the Stake of Sloth didn't respond for a couple minutes. "Are you alright?"

Unfortunately, Belphegor couldn't respond due to having descended into another one of her panic attacks.

Outside, Lucifer pressed her forehead against the door and sighed. "Fine, I'm coming in anyway." Turning the doorknob and pushing the door open, she stepped inside to find her little sister crying on the floor in the fetal position. "Oh no, not again…"

Going over to a box of paper bags Ange left on Belphegor's dresser in case the Stake of Sloth felt the first the first signs of a panic attack under way, Lucifer took one and brought it over to her poor little sister. Holding it up to her mouth, the older Stake helped Belphegor breathe into it until she calmed down a little.

Taking a deep breath, Belphegor kept her eyes shut tight while exhaling the fresh air she took in. She was still trembling and very pale as usual, but at least she was settling down. However…

"A-ah—Kyaaahhh!" Belphegor suddenly screamed in terror when she opened her eyes to find Lucifer kneeling on the floor in front of her. In a fit of fright she quickly jumped to her feet and fell over the baseboard of her bed when she tried to back away from her older sister. "L-Lucifer, I-I—I-I…!"

"Whoa, calm down, Belphegor," the Stake of Pride said, holding her hands up defensively as she stood up, discarding the paper by tossing it on her younger sister's desk. "You just had another panic attack for Pete's sake."

Her whole face turning redder than a tomato, Belphegor turned her head away in embarrassment to avoid eye contact with her older sister. "O-oh, I-I'm s-sorry, I-I—I-I…" Her words came out stuttered as she spoke, but it didn't really matter since her voice died once she began to cry.

Lucifer sighed, stepping over to her poor little sister. Sitting down on the bed, she one of Belphegor's hands in her own to offer some comfort. "There, there, Belphegor, it's alright. I'm not mad at you."

Belphegor looked at her older sister fearfully, a waterfall of tears pouring down her face. "Y-you a-aren't?"

"No, of course not. Why should I be angry with you?"

"W-well, I-I d-didn't…I-I'm s-sorry…I-I…" Belphegor struggled to speak clearly through her tears, but it was no good. She just kept choking out sobs in between her words while trying to answer the question.

"It's fine," Lucifer spoke up softly, rubbing the Stake of Sloth's back with one hand while gently wiping away a tear from her face with a finger on the other, "you don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"U-um, o-okay," Belphegor sniffed, glad to not have to go through the troublesome process of trying to give a suitable answer that would satisfy her older sister. "U-uh, I-I know i-it's n-not my p-place t-to ask, b-but…" She began to speak again before Lucifer started talking, but immediately shut up upon realizing her mistake.

Lucifer moved closer to her little sister upon seeing her obvious hesitation, but made sure she did it slowly to avoid spooking her. "It's okay, Belphegor. You can feel free to ask me anything. I don't bite," she said, trying the approach Ange usually took when interacting with the Stake of Sloth.

Unsure of how her sister might respond to her question, Belphegor faltered a few moments as she swallowed heavily to clear her throat. She didn't have any idea if Lucifer was going to be angry with her, though that seemed unlikely.

It was unlikely…right?

Surely Lucifer wouldn't start scolding her for putting forth a rude question, correct? The Stake of Pride would feel hurt by such a thing and become angry towards her, even though Belphegor meant no offense in the first place.

She swore she wasn't trying to hurt Lucifer's feelings, really! She just wanted to find out why Lucifer was here, talking to her. Was that so wrong?

"Belphegor, calm down," Lucifer stated, taking both of her little sister's shoulders in her hands. "You're starting to hyperventilate a bit."

Jumping slightly at the Stake of Pride's sudden remark, Belphegor squeaked fearfully and fell back from her older sister, yanking her arms close to her chest. "A-ah, I-I'm s-so s-sorry! I-I d-didn't m-mean t-to! I-I—" she said in a terrified manner, stuttering every single one of her words.

"Just settle down, Belphegor," Lucifer slowly moved closer, inch by inch. "There's no need for you to get all worked up over something like that."

"B-but, I-I—"

The Stake of Pride muffled her little sister's voice with her hand to keep her from continuing. "Shhh, it's okay, Belphegor, I didn't mean it like that," she said briefly, "I just think you're capable of controlling your emotions, that's all."

Belphegor looked uncertain of her older sister's advice. "Are you…s-sure?" she inquired timidly, tipping her head down in shame.

Lucifer nodded, smiling warmly. "Yes, I do believe you can. You are a hard worker, after all, so it shouldn't be too difficult to keep calm."

Looking up from underneath her bangs, Belphegor blushed nervously while beginning to twiddle her fingers. Lucifer was right about her working hard, but she didn't know that work and being social were two different things.

Belphegor was loyal Furniture, not some kind of schoolgirl who enjoyed chatting with friends and going out on social play dates. She was the sort of girl who'd much rather prefer to be left alone inside her own personal little bubble where she'd be safe and secure from the world. That wasn't because she was aloof around others, but due to her shyness and timidity when in the presence of other people, regardless of how well she knew them. It didn't matter whether they were her own sisters or close friends; Belphegor was just that way with everybody she knew.

"Now why don't you go ahead and ask your question," Lucifer encouraged her with a pat on the back. "I'll answer to the best of my abilities if that satisfies you, okay?"

"O-Okay, u-um…u-uh…" Belphegor stuttered, timidly fiddling with her fingers and swallowing a lump in her throat to clear it. "U-um, w-why are you h-here?"

Suddenly she turned very pale upon realizing that her question sounded rude and quickly stuttered her words again in an attempt to take back what she said. "I-I mean, u-uh, u-uh, w-what are you d-doing in m-my room?! A-ah, I-I'm s-so s-sorry!"

Springing to her feet as she jumped off the bed and backed into the corner, Belphegor fearfully slumped to the floor as she began crying again because Lucifer was going to be so pissed at her insolence. She didn't mean it like that, nor did she intend to imply anything wrong. It simply slipped out and now she cursed herself for talking back to her older sister.

"I-I'm s-sorry, I-I…I-I…" Terrified, Belphegor just kept stuttering until her voice died out. That was a sign for her to close her eyes real tight and shut up to prepare for a severe scolding, followed by an equally severe punishment.

But that punishment never came, and neither did the scolding.

Rather than be judgmentally harsh, Lucifer just stared at Belphegor out of concern. She had seen her little sister act this way before, but every time she witnessed it the Stake of Pride couldn't help feeling a pang of worry kindling in her heart.

Belphegor always thought whatever she did was wrong even though she was just trying to be nice and help out. Sure, she made mistakes all the time in social situations, but she had good intentions. True, people could lose their patience and start screaming at her in rage, but the poor girl didn't deserve that. Belphegor always did her best, regardless of what other people told her, so she should've had some self-esteem. Growing a backbone would've helped too so she could learn to defend herself better against people like the bullies Ange dealt with at St. Lucia's.

Her hard work would make her quite valuable as Furniture, though Belphegor would completely fall apart if forced to be social. Hopefully it wouldn't get much worse than that—such as her dying of a heart attack in public.

To try and comfort her little sister so she didn't have another panic attack and to alleviate her fears that Belphegor's sanity wouldn't shatter from it, Lucifer approached the Stake of Sloth carefully and knelt down to give her a hug.

Belphegor's eyes shot wide open just as she blushed in embarrassment. Never before had she felt such warmth coming from her oldest sister. She knew Lucifer was proud of herself and could've been above this much sympathy as the leader and oldest sister of the Stakes of Purgatory. She'd likely look down on her sisters for those very reasons, but never once did she actually do so. She was strict when she needed to be—mostly towards Mammon and Beelzebub when they caused trouble and Satan when she got angry—though she was also gentle, especially towards Belphegor.

Belphegor just guessed that made her an ideal leader and the best older sister they could have. Truth be told, she didn't feel very lucky because she thought of herself as an outcast since they were more successful at whatever they did than her.

Regardless, Belphegor tried to push her insecurities aside for the time being and paid attention to her older sister so she might discern her reasoning behind the sudden compassion.

"It's alright, Belphegor," Lucifer said softly with a small smile on her face. "I'm not angry with you. You didn't do anything wrong and you're not in any trouble. I just want to talk with you about something Do you understand?"

Belphegor hesitated before she responded. "U-um…I-I, u-uh, g-guess?"

Lucifer looked at her and nodded. "Good. Now do you mind if I lock your door so we may have some privacy?"

"W-why?" Belphegor sounded nervous as her older sister helped her stand up. "I-its n-nothing…b-b-bad is it?"

"No, not at all," Lucifer shook her head as she briefly explained her motive. "I just don't want the others to come in and start teasing you a bit while we're speaking, okay?"

"U-um, s-sure, go ahead."

"Alright," Lucifer said as she went to the door and closed it, turning the lock to keep everyone else out. Turning around again, she gestured for Belphegor to take a seat on her bed while she took the chair from the desk and sat down on that. "Okay, where should I begin?" she then asked herself, looking up at the ceiling as she considered how to approach the subject with the Stake of Sloth. "Oh, yes…ahem…"

Having been fiddling with her fingers while Lucifer was thinking, Belphegor's eyes jolted wide open from having been a tad startled when her older sister spoke up after a few brief moments to put forth a question.

"Belphegor, would you like to learn how to cook?"

Belphegor was confused. "C-cook?" The way she uttered the word sounded as if she had never heard it before, like it was some new concept she was learning about for the first time.

"Yes, Belphegor, I would like to teach you some basic culinary skills," Lucifer nodded to confirm what she just said. "You see, I've been thinking about all the times you had to eat simple handmade food while home alone. Although there's nothing wrong with having it for breakfast and lunch, I still believe you're capable of cooking something more enriching for dinner. Are you following me on this?"

Belphegor nodded in response, hands folded on her lap. "I-I see…so you would like me to learn how to cook so I can be a little more independent on my own when you and the others aren't at home?"

"Correct," Lucifer nodded again. "I was thinking we could get started on it tomorrow, if that's alright with you?"

Belphegor was unsure if the Stake of Pride's idea was going to work, but despite being apprehensive about the whole 'cooking' tutorial, she still didn't want to let her older sister down. "U-Um…o-okay, I-I'll u-uh...d-do my best."

Hopefully cooking _was_ something she _could_ do her best at.

…

"I-I know its n-not my place t-to complain, b-but when you said you wanted to t-teach me how to c-cook, you never s-said we'd be using t-the microwave, or the s-stove, o-or even the oven f-for that matter!"

Belphegor was in the kitchen with a bright green apron over her clothes as she stood back from her older sister. Her hands were close together and up against her chest. Her pupils were dilated and she was trembling uncontrollably. Some of her words came out stuttered as she spoke and her voice was as shaky as her body. Belphegor's mental state was beginning to crumble.

"I-I'm s-so s-sorry!" she cried fearfully, tears welling up in her eyes. "I-I c-can't d-do this! I-It's t-too much! P-Please, Lucifer, d-don't make me d-do this!"

"But we haven't even begun yet," Lucifer chided gently, crossing her arms. "All you've done is put on an apron and now you're backing out? Belphegor, you gave me your word last night that you'd do your best."

"T-that was before I-I knew w-what was involved!" Belphegor protested, her breathe catching in her throat and nearly choking her. "I-If you t-told me we'd b-be d-doing this I-I c-could've at least p-prepared myself first!"

Lucifer's eyes narrowed. "Point taken, but are you sure that's what you would've told me when I offered you these culinary lessons, or were you going to refuse?"

By now Belphegor's heart was beating so fast she felt she'd die of a sudden heart attack. The best course of action in this situation was to tell the truth. "N-no—I-I mean yes—I-I mean I-I don't know!"

Unfortunately, her fright messed up her train of thought and got too out of hand. Now she was just blurting out whatever answered she believed was satisfactory.

"Alright, Belphegor, just calm down," Lucifer instructed her, stepping closer to place a hand on her younger sister's shoulder so she could comfort the poor girl. She even used that tone of voice Ange took to soothe the Stake of Sloth's frayed nerves.

"O-oh, u-um, u-uh, okay…" Belphegor said. Her voice breaking down into a whisper as it slowly died away with her stress. "S-sorry…"

"Its fine," the Stake of Pride said while taking her hand away to put her own apron on, "just tell me the truth, Belphegor. Were you initially going to say no?"

"Y-You won't g-get mad?" Belphegor inquired timidly.

"Of course not," Lucifer reassured her.

"O-oh, u-um, o-okay…I-if you s-say s-so…I-I guess…"

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Belphegor took a few deep breaths to think of how she could word her answer properly. Lucifer said she wouldn't be angry with her, but the Stake of Sloth wasn't one to truly believe that. It wasn't that she thought her older sister was lying, but rather it was because Belphegor was just way too shy and timid to take the word of others at face value. There wasn't anything wrong with being cautious or afraid, but it was an issue when someone like her was terrified despite there being no reason to be.

Clearly Belphegor needed psychological help…a lot of psychological help. She'd need to have therapeutic assistance if she was going to get through life and be more composed around others.

"Belphegor?"

Suddenly Belphegor shrieked fearfully and stumbled back a step. Her breathing grew heavier again as she tried to settle down.

"Whoa, stop screaming, I just gently touched your shoulder, that's all," Lucifer held her hands up defensively while taking a step back herself before sighing. "Look, just forget the question, ok?"

"B-but I-I can answer it!" Belphegor meekly protested. "I-I just, u-uh, need t-time t-to, u-um, think it over!"

"Is that why you were spacing out just now?" Lucifer inquired curiously. "If you wanted to think it over, all you had to do was say so. Don't leave me wondering if you're incapable of doing something as simple as that."

"O-oh, I-I…" Belphegor's voice died away again. "I-I'm s-sorry."

"It's alright," her older sister said with a small, reassuring smile. "Besides, it's a simple yes or no question, so I think you can answer it easily."

Belphegor blushed out of embarrassment, feeling really stupid for having to get all worked up over a silly question. And since Lucifer wouldn't be angry with her, the shy, timid Stake believed she could answer her older sister's question.

…Lucifer was telling the truth about that…right?

"W-well, u-um, in that c-case, u-um…" Belphegor timidly gazed up at Lucifer through her bangs as she began to shyly touch the tips of her index fingers together. "…U-uh, y-yes." She swallowed heavily, terrified that she was going to be scolded. At the same time, however, Belphegor felt a little relieved to get the truth off her chest so she could quit worrying about it.

It didn't sound like anything too serious, so maybe she'd be let off the hook.

However, Belphegor had immediately shut her eyes after she spoke up, so she didn't know what Lucifer's facial expression looked like. That was why she was so surprised and startled at the same time when she felt something on her head, as if it was being gently tapped over and over. Upon opening her eyes, Belphegor could clearly see that the Stake of Pride wasn't mad at all.

Lucifer's eyes were closed and her smile had grown slightly wider as she patted Belphegor on the head. "There, that's all I needed to know. I'm so proud of you for telling the truth."

Belphegor's face turned redder than a tomato and she began to fidget nervously. Compliments were supposed to be good things, but she never asked for them in the first place because she was frightened of having the praise foisted onto her. It was so awkward that Belphegor thought she might die of embarrassment. If she wasn't so shy and timid, this might actually be more bearable if Lucifer's praise hadn't made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately the Stake of Pride took note her younger sister's discomfort and pulled her hand away. "You don't want me to do that?" she inquired curiously.

"U-Um…n-no, why?" Belphegor stuttered and swallowed a lump in her throat, terrified that she might be scolded for rejecting the praise.

"Because I can see what I'm doing is upsetting you a little," Lucifer responded calmly, not in the manner Belphegor expected—or with the words as well. "If you don't want that kind of praise, just let me know, okay?"

"O-Okay, b-but," Belphegor said, calming down a little, "I-I mean i-it's, u-uh…What I-I mean is…u-um, that it doesn't s-sound t-too bad t-to…u-uh, receive some praise every once in…u-um a while?" It was supposed to have been a statement, but her shyness and timidity made her so uncertain that it became a question. She hadn't meant to sound so confused, but Belphegor just couldn't understand social interaction and she didn't know how someone functioned in such a scenario.

Everyone else appeared to be normal, so why wasn't she as well?

She wasn't…_abnormal_…was she?

Belphegor dreaded the very thought and hoped that wasn't the case, but it seemed the signs said otherwise. She was clearly a social train wreck wrought by shyness, timidity, claustrophobia, and anxieties; an introvert with no self-esteem or even a backbone to defend herself. Furthermore, Belphegor also was incredibly self-conscious about the many characteristics that made up her personality. She was like a cross between a mouse and a skittish cat, squeaking in fright in social situations and running away to hide in some dark hole.

…That was a horrible analogy on her part, and Belphegor quickly shoved it out of her mind before her thoughts grew out of control. Peace of mind was virtually a difficult state for her to get wrapped around since she was always under so much stress.

In any case, Lucifer noted her apparent confusion and cocked her head to the side, half-concerned about her little sister and half-curious about what she meant. "Okay…but what about every other time?"

Belphegor swallowed a lump in her throat, frightened that Lucifer was foisting too much attention on her. "You d-don't, u-uh, appreciate anything I-I, u-um, d-do, r-right?" she stuttered, feeling trapped in a conversation she couldn't escape from. "I-I, u-um, I-I mean, I-I haven't really d-done anything r-right. I-I, u-uh, mess up all the t-time and m-make everyone upset, s-so…s-so I-I…I-I…"

By this point Belphegor was already beginning to cry as tears trickled down her face. She couldn't restrain her pain any longer as it forced its way out of her.

As much as she hated to admit it, Lucifer had to partially agree with Belphegor since there were some things the Stake of Sloth couldn't do properly on her own. She forced herself to make the effort and complete such tasks without asking for help. All the damage that accumulated when she failed was done unto her and no one else. So much pain of that sort was too much for someone like her to handle.

It was up to Lucifer to make Belphegor feel better. She may have been the leader of the Stakes of Purgatory, but she was also the oldest sister who calmly handled their familial issues in a collected manner with a level head. As such, it was her duty as a sister to cheer her younger sibling up, one of the several responsibilities she considered to be more important than her duties as Furniture.

So she embraced Belphegor in a warm hug.

Belphegor wasn't surprised by Lucifer's kindness as she had already experienced such tender affection from her older sister the night before, she still felt embarrassed when receiving this much attention—more so than she was already.

…This was considered to be normal for someone like her…right?

…Belphegor seriously needed to stop harping on that. She'd only worry herself even more.

"There, there, Belphegor," Lucifer said with that soft tone of voice, "it's alright. It's not a matter of finishing anything perfectly because we perform our duties to the best of our abilities. What's important is whether or not we take the initiative to put the effort into these responsibilities ourselves and try our best. That's all we ever ask of you, okay?"

Belphegor swallowed heavily as she hesitated, but she eventually nodded several moments later. "U-um…o-okay, I-I, u-uh, guess?" she stuttered, her voice so low it was nearly a whisper.

"Good," Lucifer said with a small smile as she drew away from her younger sister. "Now shall we get started on your lessons?"

"U-um, if you, u-uh, say so," Belphegor said nervously as she followed the Stake of Pride over to the counter by the stove just as Ange stepped in while carrying a book.

"Excuse me, Lucifer, but have you seen a blue bookmark with a picture of a dove on it somewhere by any chance?"

Lucifer turned to answer her. "Yes, I believe Satan was using it when I saw her earlier this morning. If you need another one, I suggest looking in one of the desks in the study. There's a few there."

"Alright, thank you," Ange said with a small smile before she took a good look at the Stakes' aprons. "Are you both cooking something for dinner this evening? I thought we had planned to go out later for pizza."

"No, not at all, Ange," the Stake of Pride shook her head in response to the witch's inquiry. "I was just beginning to teach Belphegor the basics of cooking so she'll know how to when home alone."

Ange took a tissue from the box near the door and folded it in half. "Do you mind if I help?" she asked, placing it between the pages her finger was in.

"No, please feel free," Lucifer said, accepting her offer.

Belphegor's eyes widened slightly as she watched her master put on an apron. "U-um, I-I know its n-not my place t-to s-speak freely," she stuttered, blushing out of embarrassment, "b-but if you're busy, M-Miss Ange, then s-shouldn't you be attending t-to other m-more important matters?" She swallowed heavily, hoping that Ange wasn't offended by her inquiry.

"It's quite alright, Belphegor," Ange responded with a small smile on her face. "I don't have anything to do right now, so I have time to work on this with you."

Belphegor opened her mouth to protest again once more, but shut it since she knew talking back to her master was improper. There was no getting out of this and even if there was such a way, the Stake of Sloth couldn't just give up when the others were counting on her. Belphegor couldn't let them down. She had given her word and would see these lessons through to the end, regardless of how long and difficult they'd be. Hopefully they wouldn't require too much from her.

"Now then, Belphegor," Lucifer said, having opened a cabinet door to pull out two cans, "as this is your first lesson, we'll begin with something simple, so look at these."

Accepting the cans from her older sister, Belphegor inspected them for a few moments before looking up at Lucifer again. "U-um, th-these are…?" she inquired curiously with a touch of shy timidity.

"They are cans, Belphegor," Ange answered, stepping over to the flustered Stake and taking one from her to hold it up. "Do you know what's inside them?"

Belphegor hesitated before answering. "U-um, I-I presume it's…f-food?"

Lucifer nodded. "Correct, but do you know what kind of food?"

Belphegor fidgeted slightly as she tipped her head down to think of what to say. Nothing came to mind, so she meekly shook her head and blushed in shame.

"Its soup," Ange said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"S-Soup…?" Belphegor parroted in confusion.

Ange nodded. "Indeed, but do you know the flavor of this particular soup?"

Belphegor nervously shook her head again.

"Its tomato soup," Lucifer responded as she pointed to the label on the can. "I know you're not that far into your reading lessons with Ange, but you could also check the picture on the label to get a good idea of what it looks like."

"U-uh, o-okay," Belphegor brought the can up to her eyes and examined the picture. Depicted on the bottom of the label underneath some words she didn't understand yet was an image of a bowl filled with some sort of red liquid. It didn't appear to look like blood, lava, or something of a similar color.

"T-this is how i-it will turn out?" she then inquired curiously.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, though the soup will be a tad darker than shown on the label," Ange answered while taking out a pot from a cabinet next to the oven.

"B-but d-does that mean it'll, u-uh, t-taste different?" Belphegor asked, looking to her master for an answer.

"You remember having tomato soup sometimes right, Belphegor?" Lucifer inquired as Ange stood back up and put the pot on the stove. When Belphegor shrugged nervously in response, the Stake of Pride then added, "It's that red liquid that's mostly in bowls whenever we have it with dinner, or we put it on top of mashed potatoes or something."

"You mean like ketchup?" Surprisingly, Belphegor didn't stutter her words that time since she was beginning to calm down slightly.

"Well, ketchup is also made from tomatoes, but has a different taste and is much thicker," her older sister explained. "In my opinion, ketchup is somewhat strong while tomato soup is sweeter. You've had it too, so I presume you know what I'm talking about, correct?"

"U-um, y-yes, I-I remember," Belphegor said, nodding as she examined the can she was holding again. She was getting nervous again since she knew where this must've been going. "B-But what am I-I s-supposed t-to do with these?! I-I don't even know what it's like inside!"

"Calm down, Belphegor," Ange said as she took the other can from the flustered Stake. "It's just going to appear thick once you get the lid off and pour it out."

"T-that's all you have t-to do, r-right?" Belphegor inquired timidly while starting to tremble. "N-nothing more…?" Her voice had turned into a small squeak of a whisper while she uttered that last part as if she was losing the ability to speak.

"Of course there's more to do," Lucifer said, taking a can opener out of a drawer. "You can't just pour soup and eat it right away; you have to cook it first."

"B-But I-I don't know how t-to cook!" her younger sister protested fearfully.

"That's why we're teaching you how to," Ange responded, setting the cans down on the counter before placing a hand on Belphegor's shoulder to calm her.

"W-what i-if I-I mess up?! I-I might d-do something s-stupid a-and…and…and…" By this point Belphegor was on the verge of hysterics, her nerves so frayed she was about to have a panic attack like the night before. Her voice had already died out.

If it wasn't for Ange steadying her by wrapping both arms around the flustered Stake, she might've gone into the fetal position on the floor like she usually did.

"Settle down, Belphegor, settle down," the witch slowly instructed with both hands on the Stake of Sloth's shoulders. "Take deep breaths…yes, that's it…deep breaths…"

Belphegor did as she was told and calmed herself in a matter of minutes. She looked to her older sister and back to Ange before tipping her head down in shame. Before the two of them could say anything, Belphegor meekly spoke up with a quiet "I-I'm s-sorry…"

Ange and Lucifer glanced at one another briefly before the Stake of Pride decided to say something first. "It's alright, Belphegor, you didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah," Ange nodded in agreement, "it's understandable that this might be overwhelming for you, but that's why we're slowly taking this step by step."

Belphegor looked up at her master from underneath her bangs, hesitant to speak up in case she made a stupid comment that would really get her trouble. However, Ange's warm smile seemed to soothe her nerves somewhat.

Was this really a good idea? For her to learn how to cook?

They were supposed to have begun her by now, yet Belphegor delayed the process even further with her insecurities, shyness, and timidity. It was her fault, but Ange and Lucifer weren't blaming her. Perhaps that was a good thing, or the two of them could've just been saying those things to make her shut up and get back on track.

Seeing that the poor girl was obviously upset, Ange cast another quick glance at Lucifer before turning back to the Stake of Sloth to lift her chin and make eye contact. "Belphegor…" she asked softly, "do you not want to learn how to cook?

Feeling very embarrassed and ashamed of herself, Belphegor blushed while averting her gaze from Ange, not wanting to see her master disappointed at her. Still, she mustered up whatever bit of courage she had left to answer as best she could. "I-I…I-I d-don't know, I-I…I-I…"

It was a poor response, but what else could she do? Flat out say no?

She was sure they were disappointed in her already. All she could do now was let them know of her uncertainty about these culinary lessons. As she much as she hated to admit it, Belphegor truly saw no alternatives to the mess she had gotten herself into, nor could she accurately predict the outcomes if she went through with it or not.

If yes, was she going to make mistakes cooking something as simple as soup?

Would it all be over if she said no, freeing her from a task she was terrified to do, but letting her master and older sister down at the same time?

Luckily Lucifer noticed how unsettled her younger sister was and had an alternate proposal in mind, one that could serve as an easy compromise. "Tell you what, Belphegor," she began with a friendly smile, "we'll go through this first lesson halfway and see where it goes from there. If you wish to stop afterwards, that's fine."

Belphegor looked at Lucifer nervously and snapped her attention back to Ange when she spoke. "That sounds like a good idea," she said to the Stake of Pride and turned back to her. "Don't you think so, Belphegor? Would that be okay?"

Belphegor looked away shyly and started fiddling with her fingers. "U-um…I-I, u-uh, guess…I-I mean I-I s-suppose I-I could give it a-a t-try," she stuttered.

"Of course we are," Lucifer nodded in response to her inquiry. "We'd never force you to go through with something all the way. Just do what you can and we'll step in if it gets to be a little too much for you to handle on your own."

"Absolutely," Ange agreed. "We'll be there every step of the way because we're here for you."

"D-do you…" Belphegor began to ask, then hesitated for a few moments before finishing her question, "…r-really mean that?"

Ange nodded. "Sure we do. Why wouldn't we think otherwise?"

Belphegor blushed and tipped her head down, fidgeting where she stood. When she spoke, her voice was almost like a whisper. "W-well, you know m-me…I-I mean how I-I'm this way…"

"Right," Lucifer nodded in agreement with her younger sister, "but we don't blame you for being yourself.

"B-but you have t-to make accommodations for me!" Belphegor protested.

"True, though who said that was a bad thing?" Ange inquired with a warm smile. "Belphegor, we do these things for you because we care for you. We love you, especially just the way you are."

Belphegor's face turned as red as a tomato. "R-Really?"

"Really," Lucifer repeated. "So don't be afraid to ask any of us for help. We'd always be glad to give you a hand if you need it."

"O-okay, u-um," Belphegor stuttered, grateful for their support. "t-thank you?"

"You're quite welcome," Ange smiled as she spoke while closing her eyes. "Now shall we get started, or do you need a little more time to calm down?"

"I-I'd prefer t-to begin, if t-that's fine," Belphegor stepped over to the counter so she could get this done and over with before deciding whether she would finish the second half or not. "Y-You'll u-um, s-show me what t-to do, r-right?"

"Of course," Lucifer said, nodding as she and Ange stood next to her. "That's why we're here for you."

Looking back and forth between them, Belphegor blushed again with a small smile spreading across her face. "T-thank you…Lucifer…Miss Ange…" she whispered softly, but still loud enough for them to hear.

"You're very welcome," Ange replied as she and the Stake of Pride began Belphegor's culinary lesson.

Belphegor's smile grew a tad wider. She was grateful to have them here by her side when she needed them. They'd show her what to do and help when she asked for it.

Perhaps learning how to cook wasn't such a bad idea after all.

…

**And so another one-shot in this collection has come to a conclusion. I started this one a while back but never had much of a chance to make significant progress on it until **_A Sisterly Winter Wonderland_** was finished.**

**I'm likely going to combine the next two one-shots into a single one-shot because the concepts involved are similar, so you'll be seeing both Mammon and Beelzebub in it alongside Belphegor and Ange.**


	7. I Can't Babysit and Pet-sit

_I Can't Babysit and Pet-sit_

It was the summer of 1999, in the month of August to be specific. The weather forecast predicted for warm weather throughout the week with a chance of showers on the weekend.

It was a time for kids on summer break to play outside in their front yards with all sorts of toys and games. School was a hectic place where they worked hard all year round, save on the weekends when they had some leisure time available to do whatever they wanted. Summer was the best time of the year in that regard since school was out for a few months, leaving them free to have as much fun as they wanted.

Although Belphegor understood the reasoning behind that, she still wished kids would take school seriously and study over the summer instead of playing. After all, children would grow up eventually and find careers for themselves, so it was better they use the extra time wisely to prepare for their futures and the careers they would find themselves in one day.

But a shy, timid girl like her couldn't change the schooling system, nor could she even make suggestions since she wasn't involved in it either. Belphegor didn't go to school partly because she was a magical being, but also because she acquired much of her knowledge from observing others along with a bit of it from the few books she was able to read with Ange's help.

Another reason why was because there wasn't a formal school in Purgatory. Witches and sorcerers had no reason to establish an academic center because their method of teaching involved taking on pupils who would later succeed them. Sometimes Belphegor wished the same could be said for Furniture like her, but it wouldn't really do much good because there was no real need for them to learn unless their masters either allowed or required it. Without a school to teach Furniture how to be effective, her education, along with that of most Furniture, was a matter only for the beings they served to consider.

Belphegor never really understood that, which was why she never worked up the courage to ask Beatrice what any of that meant and if she could apply for an education. To her, knowledge was only as good as work; nothing else mattered if it was towards something useful that would benefit her master. That was why she felt it wasn't her place to make such a request; it would only embarrass her, leading to uncomfortable situations that put her on the spot when her knowledge was required. The Stake of Sloth wanted to avoid that entirely, though Ange was very patient with her when she taught the poor girl reading comprehension skills and writing skills. Ange's explanations always made everything easier and comfortable, so now Belphegor felt confident about what she knew even if her knowledge was still limited.

Perhaps this was what it was like in schools, though on a different level since there was usually one teacher and a class full of students. But those classes were empty now because of summer break, and all those kids outside meant one thing to Belphegor: she had to stay inside to avoid them out of fear because they were all strangers to her. She didn't like strangers because they terrified her since she didn't know who they were, and she was way too shy and timid to even speak with them, let alone be around them.

It didn't really matter too much since she was inside working and the kids were all outside in their yards playing.

"S-slow down! P-Please s-stop!"

It shouldn't have mattered because those kids were supposed to be outside, except for the three little girls who lived next door who were apparently staying over for the day since their parents went out of the city for the day on an important errand. They were a rowdy trio, that was for sure, and it made no sense why they had to say indoors when there was a perfectly big front yard with an equally big backyard for them to play in.

Belphegor would never understand children or the mechanics behind them; all she knew was that they got in the way whenever somebody like her was working. She didn't have time for play—she never did, really—though it wasn't an excuse for them to hang around her especially when she was boring. Although Belphegor didn't like to admit it since it only belittled herself, she had to agree with the label nonetheless regardless of whether she liked it or not.

"C-calm down! I-indoor voices, p-please!"

Though now was a good time for her to actually admit it. Maybe it would make the girls leave her alone and let her go back to work in peace rather than chase them all over the living room where she was busy ironing the tablecloth—which the girls stained with grape juice a few hours ago. Perhaps it would've been better if she ironed it up in her room to avoid unwanted distractions.

One of the girls laughed as she played with the new lamp Ange bought two days ago. "Oooh…this is so cool! I want one of these! Can I have it, Miss Belphe?! Can I, can I, can I?!" she pestered until the Stake pulled her away from the lamp.

"N-no, we just got it ourselves! And you can't play with it either!"

The second girl had climbed to the top of the couch and saw Belphegor's side ponytail. "Why do you only have one pigtail, Miss Belphe?!" she squealed while yanking on it, causing Belphegor to squeal too—in pain as a matter of fact. "Where's the other one?!"

"I-I don't know! I-I don't know!" the poor Stake cried as she pulled the little girl off the couch, coincidently causing the ponytail to come undone. "Just d-don't touch it! T-that hurts!"

"Can we help you iron Miss Belphe?" the third girl inquired calmly as she attempted to reach for the iron.

The moment the Stake of Sloth noticed what she was doing, she made a mad dash for the iron and immediately seized it so the thing wouldn't fall and burn the child. "A-absolutely not! You s-shouldn't touch this; it's too hot!" she shouted in a panicked state after taking it away…before realizing a moment after yelling that it was a completely stupid move on her part to grab the scalding hot side with both hands.

Belphegor screamed in pain and accidently dropped the iron…which landed hard on her foot, causing the poor Stake to cry out again as she raised her leg to hold her sore foot while hopping uncontrollably before losing her balance and falling backwards into the iron.

Both hit the floor with a loud thud, but only one suffered a blow to the head. That was obviously Belphegor since she lost consciousness for a few moments before opening her eyes to find the girls all staring at down at her in concerned confusion. The timid Stake squeaked fearfully and pushed herself away until she bumped into something behind her. She looked up to find her younger sister, Beelzebub, clad in jeans and a blouse, looking down at her.

"Hey, Belphe, you okay?" the Stake of Gluttony inquired, "I heard a commotion from the kitchen and came in to see what happened." She gazed at the damage around the room and crossed her arms, somewhat surprised to find the place in disarray. Some of the strings in the piano were sticking up, a portrait was crooked, wood for the fireplace was in a mess, one of the curtains had been pulled down, and now the ironing board was on the floor. It was as if a small tornado ransacked the room without taking anything.

One would think the little girls had caused all that destruction, but nobody could really believe it especially when the truth just so happened to be at Beelzebub's feet.

First, the girls playfully tossed a ring around until it ended up in the piano when Belphegor tripped over her own feet while attempting to get the ring back. That ring had belonged to Ange's mother, so they shouldn't have been throwing it around in the first place. When it landed inside the piano, Belphegor's hair got caught in the strings while trying to pull it out and she fell into it. That was how her hair got disheveled as she became tangled in the strings; while trying to get untangled after managing to get out of the piano, Belphegor was yanked by them so hard that her face smashed into the side of the instrument. That explained the black eye she got along with the swollen bump on her forehead.

The green bows in her hair had fallen to the floor in the process and she had slipped on them while trying to get up. Belphegor tried to break her fall at the expense of the curtains she seized to keep her balance without realizing it, but failed and fell anyway.

Then the girls were checking out the fireplace and she rushed to keep them from turning the flames on even though there was a cage separating them from the fire. She tripped over her feet again and stumbled into the portrait before falling after tripping over the firewood.

Next came the lamp before the second girl undid Belphegor's side ponytail when she pulled on it. Finally the ironing board fell over after the Stake of Sloth severely burned both of her hands.

To make a long story short, Belphegor was now a total mess from chasing the girls to prevent them from getting into trouble. She was wounded and sweaty, her hair was disheveled along with the outfit she was wearing—the same clothes she wore when Okonogi visited the one time—and the poor girl was under a lot of stress which nearly caused another panic attack. Belphegor couldn't take much more of this because she was an injured wreck out of breath.

Beelzebub liked poking a bit of lighthearted fun at her older sister, but to do so now would just kick the poor Stake after she'd been dropped down. Ange and Lucifer would certainly be upset at her if she tried.

So she decided to help Belphegor by using the one thing she knew best: food.

"Alright, girls," she announced while clapping her hands together, "lunch is just about ready! Where would you like to eat: the dining room, or the gazebo in the backyard?"

"Dining room, dining room, dining room!" the girls chirped happily as they all rushed into their chosen venue for lunch, leaving the two Stakes in the now messy living room.

Belphegor just stared after them in horror, baffled that just three little girls could cause so much trouble and worried they would probably wreck the dining room too, especially after they spilled grape juice on the tablecloth which she'd been trying to iron as they played around her. She didn't know if she should've been grateful her younger sisters weren't like that or fearful that they might become like those children one day. The Stake of Sloth prayed for the former since it was polite to her family and wouldn't get her in trouble—hopefully the latter wouldn't come true.

"Geez, Belphe," the Stake of Gluttony got her older sister's attention when she spoke up after surveying the damage once the girls left, "it sure looks like a gorilla came in here. What on earth happened? Did the girls do this?"

Her inquiry went unanswered as Belphegor tried to stand, but the poor Stake was wobbly because the blow to her head earlier made her somewhat dizzy. She looked less like the noble Stake of Purgatory she was known as—even if Belphegor didn't believe it herself—and more like a punching bag for somebody with huge fists. Every blow left sizable dents in her self-confidence and self-esteem, both of which happened to be quite brittle anyway. Her eyes were watery and her face was flustered, evidently from all the stress placed onto her during the morning when the girls were brought over with their pets: two dogs, two cats, and a litter of kittens.

"Wow, they must've done a number on you," Beelzebub commented, which apparently got a response out of her disheveled sister.

"O-Oh, no," she replied somewhat sarcastically while stuttering—which was unusual for her since she never took that kind of tone with anyone before, but also understandable due to the pressure on her. "I-it was all me, and M-miss Ange's going to be very upset with me! S-so don't try to m-make m-me feel better about this because I sure as hell d-don't want to infuriate her!"

"Okay, okay…" Beelzebub held her hands up defensively and took a step back to give her older sister some space. "You're obviously under a lot of stress right now."

"You t-think?!" Belphegor retorted, momentarily forgetting that her behavior right now might get her into even more trouble if she was punished for what happened to the living room. "I-I've had to put up with t-these, t-these, t-these m-monsters since this m-morning! N-nobody has even t-taken them off my hands s-so I-I can work in p-peace!" She would've complained further if her younger sister hadn't seized her shoulders and shook her.

"Calm down, Belphe, calm down now," she commanded despite being the younger of the two. "I understand what you're going through, but behaving this way is unlike you. You're just making yourself more upset by not giving yourself a chance to settle your nerves."

Belphegor's eyes widened slightly and she tipped her head down in shame since Beelzebub was right; she was getting too worked up. "S-s-sorry…" she apologized shyly.

"It's fine," her younger sister sighed. "Just come into the dining room, I made you something too since you're busy right now to prepare something for yourself."

"B-b-but t-t-those m-m-monsters will be there!" Belphegor protested fearfully. She sort of had every right to, especially after what happened to her even if it wasn't the girls' fault. The Stake of Sloth opened her mouth again, but was cut off when Beelzebub wagged a finger in front of her.

"Don't call them that! That's mean!" the younger stake scolded her for the insult. "They're just around seven years old, and yes, I'm well aware they can be a handful, but that doesn't provide you with justification for unintentionally causing trouble. Besides, you've had to deal with this from Mammon and I in the past, so it shouldn't be that different from back then."

"U-uh, it kind of is…I-I t-think?" Belphegor stuttered timidly, looking up her sister through her bangs while sounding unsure of herself. "I-I m-mean, it's one more p-person t-to look after."

Beelzebub sighed again. "So? Just because it's a little bit more work than what you're used to doesn't mean you can't handle it." Belphegor knew she was correct and attempted to speak up again, but the other Stake just placed a hand on her shoulder and ushered her out of the room. "Just come inside, I'll put you down at the other end of the table and make sure they won't bother you."

"O-okay, t-thank you…" Belphegor shyly showed her appreciation. "A-and I-I'm s-sorry."

"It's alright," Beelzebub simply replied as they sauntered to the dining room.

As they walked, Belphegor couldn't help but feel that she was pretty insignificant to the Stake of Gluttony. Her younger sister used to act very immature and would constantly get in trouble when she stole food and played mean pranks on her and the others. Now she no longer had midnight snacks, she didn't eat everyone else's food, and she prevented herself from making pranks; though she did engage in a bit of light hearted teasing sometimes. It was likely thanks to the discipline she went through under Ange's guidance. Their current master didn't like how Beelzebub devoured everything in front of her so long as it was edible and made cruel fun of others, so she used some strict reinforcement to teach her how to stop and act proper. Ange's methodology was surprisingly effective as the young Stake's behavior changed dramatically; not even Beatrice—or even Eva-Beatrice—could accomplish such a task even with Ronove to help.

Such improvement in her behavior made Belphegor feel upset about herself since she knew there was no way for her to catch up to the others. She was always lagging behind them because her own insecurities and terrors prevented her from joining them as an individual of society. Although everyone encouraged her to participate while helping her become active, the Stake of Sloth knew it was a losing battle since she was only just upsetting others because she was weak. Her shyness and timidity always drove her back into a protective shell, but even that was crippled since her defenses against social customs was brittle. Sometimes Belphegor wondered whether she should be replaced by somebody more courageous than her, a frightened girl with no self-esteem.

But she had to push such thoughts out of her mind. That train of thought only worried Ange and her sisters since they knew she was beating herself up like always when there was no reason to. They didn't want Belphegor to feel bad for herself since a lot of stuff wasn't her fault.

In any case, they finally came to the dining room where the girls were already seated at the far end of the table, chatting happily about how much fun they were having. Belphegor's eyes widened slightly and she swallowed heavily at the sight of them while beginning to tremble. Fortunately, Beelzebub immediately noticed her older sister's discomfort and quickly put her in the seat nearest to where they came in.

"Just sit here, okay? I'll be back with yours and an icepack as soon as I give them theirs."

"A-alright, t-thank you, Beelzebub."

"No problem," the Stake of Gluttony replied as she went across the room into the kitchen and came back out with a few bowls of macaroni for the girls which they thanked her for. She then returned to get a simple sandwich and the icepack she prepared for her sister and brought it out to the Stake of Sloth, briefly stopping by the girls for a moment to let them know that Belphegor wanted personal space to eat. They merely saluted her before continuing their own meal.

"Here you go, Belphe," she said, placing the sandwich in front of the Stake of Sloth. "I didn't know if you wanted something different, but this should suffice, yes?"

"Y-yes," Belphegor nodded as confirmation, "it will be enough, t-thank you."

"You're welcome," Beelzebub smiled and turned to head back into the kitchen. "I'll just be cleaning up in there, so come in in case you need anything else."

"O-okay," Belphegor replied softly while getting a napkin for herself. She looked down at the sandwich and closed her eyes, bringing her hands together to give her younger sister silent thanks for the meal. Her palms still hurt, but at least the ice pack soothed the pain somewhat.

Belphegor was about to pick it up and start eating, but a sudden, loud bark gave her a terrible fright. She shrieked in terror and fell out of the chair before backing up against the wall upon seeing two huge dogs towering above her. Their presence was such a frightening imposition that they made Belphegor's heart skip several beats as her trembling became uncontrollable while she turned very pale. They slowly approached to sniff her, but the timid Stake thought they wanted to devour her until there was nothing left except a skeletal form the dogs could play with.

Just as Belphegor couldn't handle children, she couldn't handle pets as well—especially dogs as large as the two before her. She'd seen all kinds of terrifying animals at the zoo Ange and her sisters dragged her to a week ago, but those creatures were in caged environments where they couldn't get out. Although Belphegor felt sorry for them because they were held in captivity for the enjoyment of visitors and tourists, having them out and about only caused chaos which she was made all too aware of from watching movies and animals in real life—particularly dogs.

Dogs were domesticated critters, yet the excitable nature present in most of the ones she encountered while out with the others only scared her because they would be drawn to anyone. That wasn't due to aggressive characteristics, but rather a sense of friendly curiosity they showed when seeing new, interesting people. Perhaps that was why Belphegor feared dogs; their behavior around others in that manner made her think they were out for blood even though she knew they only wanted to meet new people like her. It wasn't rational on her part, but she couldn't help it.

In any case, Belphegor was fortunately saved by her other younger sister, Mammon, who miraculously came in the nick of time to pull the dogs towards her. "There, you guys are!" she cooed as the dogs pranced around her while barking excitedly. "Now, now, boys, you shouldn't scare Belphe like that, okay? Settle down now." She lifted her head up and grinned at her older sister while petting them. "See, Belphe, they're not so bad. They just wanted to say hello."

But Belphegor was already too upset and frightened to listen. She quickly stood up and stormed into the kitchen, every footstep plagued with irritated terror that became clear to Beelzebub. "I can't take this anymore! Those children have been a nuisance and those big things they brought with them have just ruined the only moment of peace I've had this whole day!" she shouted loud enough for the girls to hear from the other side of the door, all three of whom exchanged worried glances and got out of the chairs to see what was wrong.

"Lower your voice, Belphegor," Beelzebub calmly told the Stake of Sloth, "they'll hear you." Out of the corner of her eye she saw the girls peering in and smiled sweetly at them. "Go back to your meals, dearies, and I'll be out with some dessert in a bit."

The girls looked at one another again, but Mammon came over to usher the three of them back to their seats. "Don't worry, Miss Belphe is just having a rough day today. We'll make sure she gets better soon, alright?" She came in alone without the dogs as they stayed behind in the dining room to lay down by their owners and approached Belphegor. "What is wrong with you, Belphe? They're just having fun," she scolded the Stake of Sloth in a growling tone. "You shouldn't yell like that about them; it'll scare them."

"I don't care anymore!" Belphegor cried out, obviously getting stressed out because her hands were full of too much stuff she had to do—namely productive tasks that constituted work. Throwing babysitting and pet-sitting into the mix was overkill for the system she had in place and struggled to keep intact. It gave her too much to juggle, and she was not happy about it. "All I wanted was some time alone, time to myself so I could get some work done around here! There's too much to do and I can't handle so many things at once! Is that not too much to ask?!"

"Then go get some work done and leave the children with us," Beelzebub suggested. "Go do something or get some rest, just stop yelling about what's keeping you from enjoying the day."

"I can't do that now, can I?!" Belphegor retorted. "Not when they're here to prevent me from getting anything done!"

"It's not their fault, Belphe," Mammon stepped towards her older sister and crossed her arms. "You can't deny them any kind of fun because you can't do anything. Besides, we've already done enough work yesterday so we can enjoy ourselves for a while. Take advantage of this instead of rejecting it with your excuse of 'oh, I have to work because I need to earn my keep' or whatever it is. You're only making it harder by beating yourself up over nothing."

"Does this look like nothing to you?!" Belphegor shouted as she pointed to the destruction of her person. "Look at me! Do you see this?! This is what happens when you let children into your home and give them free reign over anything and everything!"

Suddenly there were small chirps of "Miss Ange!" mixed into the fray which the three Stakes only began to hear after Belphegor's outburst evaporated into nothing. She didn't dare continue lest her master discover what was going on. Hopefully she didn't see what happened to the living room since it would only infuriate her and put poor Belphegor in a lot of trouble. The Stake of Sloth would likely be severely punished if Ange learned that she was responsible for it, but she had no choice but to tell the truth and accept the consequences of her actions. Hopefully Ange would understand why the living room was in a state of disarray, that the ones who started it were those three little princesses of destruction out in the dining room.

"Why, hello children," the Stakes heard her say, "what seems to be the matter?"

"Miss Belphe's yelling!" The girls cried. "She's yelling about us, Miss Ange! What did we do?! Did we do something wrong?! We're sorry!"

Belphegor would only believe their apology if they truly meant it. As it stood, she couldn't tell if they were just saying that to get her in trouble.

In any case, their crying seemed to have an effect on Ange…and it didn't appear to sound good since her master was calm and polite in her response to them. "That's mean of her. Don't you worry, girls, I'll make sure she apologizes later, okay? Just let me handle Miss Belphe while you go outside and play with Miss Luci, Miss Satan, and Miss Levia, alright?"

And she apparently believed their story and was going to take action in their favor.

"O-Okay…" The girls responded.

The Stakes could hear them walk into the hallway, but Belphegor knew what was coming. Her master sided with the very monsters who caused the Stake of Sloth no end of painful trouble before, and now she was going to find her in here trying to justify how she felt by complaining about the girls and how horrible they were. Belphegor knew what she did was wrong, but she couldn't resist unleashing her anger any longer. The others always told her to express how she felt and not to hold in so much anger whenever she was mad. That was fine so long as she didn't try to harm others' feelings, but there were plenty of occasions when Belphegor didn't know she was coming across that way or sounded like it. And this just so happened to be one of those times when she lost her temper, causing the situation to blow out of proportion.

Ange watched the girls head out before sauntering into the kitchen to face the Stake of Sloth as the girls pointed to the room as where Belphegor currently was. She was dressed in her usual attire, but her clothes were completely covered in cat hair since she and Asmodeus had been upstairs in their room playing with the litter of kittens and the two cats. Belphegor never really figured her master for a cat person—her younger sister, Asmodeus, certainly was—so picturing her as one was somewhat difficult because Ange usually had a stoic look to her. That demeanor wasn't present whenever she and Asmodeus were having fun as sisters and when something scary gave the two of them a horrible fright, but usually it was stoic if somewhat concerned sometimes.

She turned her attention to Belphegor and stepped closer to her when the Stake of Sloth turned away. "Belphegor, what's this I'm hearing about you being mean to our guests?"

Belphegor swallowed heavily, afraid of facing her master and telling her the truth behind what was going on since it would only make Ange mad and get her in trouble.

"Belphegor," Ange said a little more sternly, "I'm talking to you. Why am I hearing that you've been hurting the children's feelings? Why has the living room become a mess?"

So she did see the destruction that the Stake of Sloth accidently caused. She didn't do it on purpose; it was an accident, yet Belphegor still felt very guilty about causing it even though it was completely unintentional on her part. She hadn't meant for it to happen, but it just did.

"Turn around, Belphegor," Ange told her, Mammon and Beelzebub standing back to let the witch handle the issue. "I want you to explain this to me." A soft sob that was obviously choked out from the flustered Stake made Ange relent and she immediately became concerned, wondering if something had happened to upset Belphegor.

It wouldn't be the first time as Ange and the other Stakes clearly knew the poor girl could receive a lot of stress from things that didn't go as Belphegor expected them to. Belphegor was certainly aware of this weakness, yet her other fallacies prevented her from improving it and vice versa. She just couldn't handle too much on her own, having to constantly rely on others for support even though it was another weakness of hers since she was too scared to ask for help and timidly shy around others even when she knew them well.

The Stakes of Greed and Gluttony looked at one another and took a step towards their older sister, but Ange halted them simply by holding her hand up to gesture that she would handle this. She got closer to Belphegor and placed a hand on her shoulder to see if she was alright, and quickly received a response from her—one she was certainly accustomed to because she'd been helping the Stake of Sloth in any tight situation she found herself in.

"I'm sorry!" Belphegor cried as she whirled around just as Ange stepped back in time to avoid being knocked over. "I'm sorry, okay?! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Tears poured down her face as she began to cry, falling to her hands and knees to beg for forgiveness even though she had no more words to express how apologetic she was.

Ange knelt down to her level and looked at Belphegor, noting the condition she was in and deducing that what happened in the living room wasn't the poor Stake's fault. She then stood up, pulling Belphegor with her and embracing her in a hug while leading the poor girl over to the table. "There, there, Belphegor…" she whispered soothingly with a warm smile as she sat her down, "it's alright; I'm not mad." She turned to Beelzebub and pointed towards the freezer. "Bring over an ice pack for her," she said as the Stake of Gluttony retrieved the one in the dining room with the dishes she also collected for the washing machine.

As Ange pressed the ice pack to Belphegor's forehead, Beelzebub set the sandwich she made for her down in front of the Stake of Sloth so she could eat undisturbed. It took a few minutes for its presence to register in Belphegor's mind, but she gradually calmed down a little and ate the sandwich. She didn't finish it, however, for it felt as if her stomach were in a knot from too much stress. She feared it might very well burst had she consumed the entire thing. Ange noticed the burns on the Stake's hands while she ate, so she applied a healing spell she knew to cure the pain.

In any case, Mammon took the sandwich away once it became apparent her older sister wasn't going to have the rest of it. She threw what was left of the sandwich in the garbage and put the plate in the sink for Beelzebub to take care of.

Ange just continued to watch Belphegor as the flustered Stake slowly settled down even if she was still trembling softly. "All better?" she asked out of concern with a warm smile.

Belphegor didn't respond. She just folded her hands across her lap and tipped her head down, blushing in embarrassment over how she behaved in front of Ange and her sisters. Yet she started to calm down for better or worse.

Ange knew the shy, timid Stake found it a little difficult to voice her gratitude, so she decided not to press for an answer. Belphegor's current demeanor now was all she needed to know that she was okay—at least for the moment. "Tell you what, Belphegor; why don't you find something else to do and get some rest for today. Sound good?"

Belphegor tried to resist swallowing a lump in her throat because it would only make them worry more. However, she couldn't help but feel there was a catch to this idea her master proposed. It couldn't possibly be that simple, right? There wasn't more to it, right? Regardless, Belphegor was aware of how impolite it was to trust Ange's judgment—or her sisters' for that matter—so she worked up the courage to produce a couple words in the form of a stuttered inquiry. "L-like w-what?" she asked, trying to mentally prepare herself for what Ange had in mind.

"Anything you believe would make you feel comfortable and give you some space."

So she was given permission to do whatever she wanted, which wasn't all that surprising or rewarding as Ange didn't enforce a strict work ethic on the Stakes. She did request they contribute to the household in some way, but never stated what they should do or give. There wasn't a lot to do actually since eight people—Ange and the Stakes—in one house meant all the work usually got done fairly quickly. It was often done in less than a day or a little over that, but it hardly extended to a second day of work which left six days of the week for leisure unless some tasks took over a day or two to complete.

Belphegor breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she wouldn't have to deal with more stress…

"You could help walk the dogs if you need a break from the children," Mammon suggested.

…and then immediately squeaked at the thought of having to be near those creatures.

"Come on, Belphe, it'll be fine," the Stake of Greed said as she ushered the dogs into the kitchen—why they hadn't followed their owners outside was a reason Belphegor didn't want to know—and put leashes on them. "It's just a short walk around the block; nothing can go wrong."

"I-I b-beg t-to d-differ!" the timid Stake protested fearfully, stuttering her words. "I-I don't want t-to even go near t-those—t-those…"

"German Shepherds?" Mammon finished for her. "Look, Belphe, I know you don't really like big dogs, but these guys are friendly," she explained and knelt down to pet them. "Aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are." she cooed playfully as they barked happily and wagged their tails.

But Belphegor didn't agree with her younger sister. She immediately got to her feet and began to back away from the dogs, fearing they would break away from the Stake of Greed and come after her. The timid Stake swallowed heavily and trembled, sweat slowly trickling down her face. Belphegor was so terrified she didn't notice Ange place a hand on her shoulder and shrieked when her master made her jump.

"Whoa, sorry about that," Ange apologized as her friend started breathing heavily, trying to calm down after the witch gave her a bad fright. "Look, Belphegor, it'll be fine. Just hold your hand down so they can smell you."

"B-b-but they'll b-b-bite me!" Belphegor protested fearfully, stuttering her words. "T-they might give me s-something like a d-disease or some kind of v-v-virus o-o-or—."

"No they won't," Mammon reassured her. "They're friendly. Just trust us, okay?"

As much as Belphegor didn't want to do it, she had to admit the Stake of Greed had a point about trust. The other Stakes might've been her sisters and Ange may have been her friend, but she knew her own insecurities prevented her from truly seeing them as such. They really did care for her, but Belphegor had trouble believing it which was why she found it difficult to trust them. She was scared they would lead her astray, but she didn't know that for sure since she hardly felt courageous enough to believe them. Perhaps it was time to place her trust in them so she could finally become a part of the family and a good friend to Ange.

"Go ahead, Belphegor," Ange encouraged her. "Hold your hand down. Kneel down if you want to get at their level."

Belphegor swallowed again and slowly did as she was told. She got down on her knees just as the dogs noticed her and raised a trembling hand up to them. They panted and sniffed her hand for a few moments. All was going well until…

"K-k-kyaaa! Get them off me! Get them off me!"

…the dogs suddenly barked and jumped on top of her. Belphegor screamed as she lost her balance and fell back against the floor as they started licking her face.

By the time Mammon and Beelzebub pulled the dogs away from her while Ange got down to lift the upper half of the poor Stake's body off the floor, Belphegor was already in a dazed stupor. Her face was very sticky since the dogs licked her so much, but she was perfectly alright.

Ange, Mammon, and Beelzebub all looked at one another, aware that things might've gone a bit too far for the Stake of Sloth to handle all at once.

Even so, it was Mammon who tried to lighten the mood. "That didn't go as expected, but I think they like her."

Though Belphegor didn't like the sound of that. She wasn't entirely unconscious so she could still hear what they were saying, and was greatly relieved when Ange said she'd get one of her other sisters to walk the dogs with Mammon. She would finally get the peace she and quiet she was looking for throughout the day, and those girls and their dogs wouldn't ruin it for her.

…

Later that night Belphegor was lying in bed, trying to get some sleep after a long day of work, torture, and much needed rest. It had been quite nerve wracking to have three children come over with their dogs for the day while their parents were out. Yet she was relieved when she heard a conversation between their parents and Ange and Asmodeus earlier that evening after dinner.

She had gone upstairs to finish what remained of the book she practiced reading to improve her comprehension skills and overheard them talking about how the girls behaved during their stay. Hearing them get scolded relieved Belphegor because they were finally going to get punished for what they did to her, but she knew that feeling was wrong regarding the context behind it. She didn't like it when others got in trouble and usually preferred to handle any situation appropriately, unless she was incapable of that—which was often a common occurrence. However, those girls did torment her even if it was unintentionally, so she figured it was time for them to learn never to bother others when they were busy. Besides, it was no longer her problem to deal with anyway.

She had breathed a sigh of relief and returned to her bedroom for some more rest, forgetting the rest of that conversation because she wasn't interested in hearing anymore of it. Eavesdropping was impolite, so Belphegor didn't want to be rude and continue it further.

Now the Stake of Sloth was finding it hard to sleep, most likely because she feared having nightmares about the girls and their dogs. She sighed and was about to get the book she was reading before just to kill time and hopefully continue learning how to read better, but a sudden knock at the door startled her.

"Belphegor," she heard Ange call from out in the hall, "may I come in?"

"U-uh, o-okay," the shy Stake responded nervously, wondering what her master wanted at this hour. It was odd that Ange would come to her for something at this hour since she never did, but Belphegor didn't want to keep her waiting and she was curious why the witch wanted her.

"Hey there, Belphegor," Ange asked as she opened the door and stepped in. "Do you feel okay? Is everything alright?"

Belphegor sighed and nodded to confirm she was fine. "Y-yes, w-why do you ask?" she inquired as Ange handed her a slip of paper. "W-what's this?"

"It's a drawing the girls made together," Ange explained. "They were sorry about what happened today and wanted to give you that as an apology."

"Apology?" Belphegor asked rhetorically, looking at the drawing her master gave her. It was a depiction of her and the girls as stick figures, including the dogs as well; they were smiling happily and holding hands together. Their names as well as Belphegor's were written above them.

"You know, Belphegor," Ange said with a small smile as she looked down at the Stake, "they may have inadvertently caused you trouble today, but they meant well. They only wanted to be friends and play with you."

Belphegor looked to her master and the drawing again. Perhaps she misjudged the girls.

"I-I s-see…" she responded shyly, but not without regret for how she acted and what she said about them. "I-I s-suppose it would be best if I-I apologize to them as well."

"Does that mean you'll be going next door tomorrow to see them?" Ange asked.

"W-well, I'd have to," Belphegor answered, looking back up at Ange. "I-I don't think they would c-come back after my…u-um, m-my c-conduct today."

Ange smiled. "Good, I'm glad you're making the right decision. You'll need to be a proper role model for them."

"E-excuse me?" Belphegor looked surprised, unsure of what her master meant by that.

"Ah, yes," Ange said as if she had forgotten something she was going to tell the Stake of Sloth. "I had spoken with the girls and their parents before about how they behaved around you. The children were wondering if you would go next door to see them tomorrow. They wanted to start over with you and try to become friends, so I thought it would be a good idea for you to spend the day with them if that's okay with you. They didn't want to force you to go, so they would understand if you don't want to go."

Belphegor shook her head. "N-no, t-that wouldn't be right," she said while turning her attention back to the picture. "I-I s-should at least speak with them for a while to make things right." She looked at Ange. "T-that's what you believe I-I s-should do, r-right?"

Ange nodded. "I do think it is right, but you don't have to force yourself to do it. Are you sure you can handle it? I can go with you if you'd like?"

"N-no, that's quite alright, Miss Ange," Belphegor responded nervously, "I-I d-don't want to pull you away from s-something else you might be doing tomorrow."

"I don't have any plans tomorrow aside from writing another short story for the magazine I contribute to," Ange said, "but I could make time to go with you tomorrow."

Belphegor sensed her master was being insistent however subtle she was, so she figured she might as well allow her to tag along since it appeared she had the option to take her. "I-I'd like to spend a bit of t-time alone with them, i-if that's o-okay, b-but you can come too i-if you want," she said and then suddenly found herself embraced in a tight hug from Ange.

"Oh, thank you very much, Belphegor!" she beamed happily. "Now Asmodeus and I can play with the kittens again! I'll go let her know that the three of us will go next door tomorrow!" she said as she went out into the hall.

Belphegor should've expected there was also an ulterior motive behind Ange's subtle insistence, but knowing that she and Asmodeus wanted to see the kittens and play with them again didn't surprise her. She just raised the drawing up and smiled as she looked at it one more time. If those two were going to get the kittens and the cats, she'd be going to the dogs since they would likely be with the girls, but Belphegor didn't mind since she could give them all another shot.

Perhaps going over to see the girls and their dogs wouldn't be a bad idea after all.

…

**Alright, I've finally found time to finish this one-shot; but unfortunately, there are a few things I need to bring up. **

**First, this is the second to last one-shot for **_I Can't_**. This collection was up for a while, but I've not received any suggestions, save for one I've provided to Fukuji Mihoko for her popular one-shot collection **_Being Dysfunctional Has Never Been So Much Fun_**. The suggestion in question was to do one about Belphegor wearing glasses, but Fukuji has already finished it a while back (I think about a couple or so years ago), so I can't do it myself. No one else gave me suggestions, aside from that one which was provided by Moon-sama. **

**Also, I've got a lot of ideas that are much longer than this collection as they are all chapter stories except for one or two Ange & Asmodeus one-shots I want to write. I'm truly sorry for not accepting anymore suggestions past this point, but I want to get to those ideas, a few of which I've already started and would like to continue. I'll get started on the final one-shot for this collection as soon as possible so I can wrap it up before moving onto those other projects. A couple of them are Umineko projects, so you'll still have something to look forward to in that regard in addition to the final one-shot of **_I Can't_** along with another one-shot for Ange and Asmodeus.**

**A few stories have been removed a while before this one-shot was uploaded and posted for **_I Can't_**. Those stories are **_Roots of Corruption_** (my Skyrim crossover project), and two of my Umineko stories, **_Mental Trauma_** and **_Amnesia: Fever Pitch_**. **_Roots of Corruption_** has nothing to do with Umineko, so I won't bore any of you with the details of that unless you'd like to know. **_Mental Trauma_** was taken down because I didn't like how it ended and I was becoming unsatisfied with the story in general. I removed **_Amnesia: Fever Pitch_** because the series it would've been a part of wasn't really going anywhere anymore and I lost interest in the whole project altogether. I apologize for pulling those stories down, but I'll have new, better projects ready that shall replace them at some point.**

**This should answer any questions any of you might have regarding my work and what you are looking forward to. I know FFReader17 reviewed **_Corvus no Naku Koro ni_** a while ago asking if the story took place while Belphegor was having mental problems. To answer that particular question, Belphegor doesn't have any mental problems in that story because both it and **_Mental Trauma_** are separate side stories unrelated to each other. Your review for that story is welcome, and I understand that everyone doesn't really like the same character pairings I do, so it's quite alright if you're not fond of the pairing in that story. I apologize for responding to you in a different story, but **_Corvus no Naku Koro ni_** isn't getting an update for a while, so I decided to answer your inquiry here if that's alright with you.**

**So that's pretty much it for now. Like I said before, look forward to the completion of **_I Can't_** and an Ange & Asmodeus one-shot to follow it at some point. Your reviews are appreciated and I take the time to answer any questions I can get to. I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoy writing them.**


	8. I Can't--I Can

_I Can't—I Can_

I can't be enclosed, yet my master taught me to be free

I can't engage with others, though my master and youngest sister showed me how

I can't comprehend written text and write, but my master and older sister helped me understand

I can't enter woodshops, but my master and older sister said I don't need to

I can't produce meals by myself, but my master and oldest sister gave me what I needed for food

I can't handle children and pets, but my master and younger sisters aided me in that endeavor

So many things I can't do on my own

So many things I can't handle on my own

But my master and my sisters are there

In my times of need and want

To help me with anything and everything

I can't do on my own, by myself

For this I am grateful to them

…

Belphegor smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have finally finished the first piece of literature she attempted to write on her own. Her lessons with Ange on how to write in addition to learning how to read paid off, showing her that she could produce something like this with relative ease. It was more of a poem than an actual story, but Belphegor wrote it to reflect on the most important memories she had of being helpless with Ange and her sisters there to help her. They were there side by side with her throughout any situation she went through, but now it was time for her to start supporting herself when they weren't nearby.

That meant she'd converse with others and initiate some of those interactions herself, even if it was with people she didn't know too well. Belphegor also decided to read more and keep a journal of her everyday activities. She knew how to cook some basic meals now, but there were also intermediary and advanced dishes she wanted to try her hand at. The Stake of Sloth had even gotten better with children and pets, so she could be a better role model when she and the others were babysitting and she could also approach animals without fear. She was still slightly claustrophobic, but Belphegor was gradually getting over that trauma of hers just as she was slowly conquering her fear of the woodshop—even if Leviathan didn't want her in there anymore.

Belphegor could do all that and more if she put her mind to whatever task she had in mind and wanted to do. All it took for her to get there was the support of everyone close to her: Ange and her sisters. Without them, Belphegor felt she'd still be a hopeless wreck who was very shy and timid around others. While an outlook like that was understandable due to insecurities like hers, it was largely unhealthy for her state of mind as it could've caused a psychological breakdown that would leave her mental state in shambles, turning the Stake of Sloth into a shell of herself.

But Belphegor didn't need to worry about any of that anymore. That was no longer her concern since she was finally ready for her surroundings and the world around her. She'd press forward with Ange and her sisters at her side, and enjoy the life she thought she'd never have.

Switching the lamp on her nightstand off, Belphegor yawned and went to sleep, dreaming of what the next day had in store for her. Tomorrow was a big day even if nothing special was going on, but Belphegor was fully prepared for what it had in store for her. With everyone else at her side, she could finally enjoy the day for what it was worth and make the most of it. As sleep started to overtake her, Belphegor smiled as she dreamed of all the things she could do.

…

** And that's it for **_I Can't_**. This is the final one-shot for this collection, and I'm proud of how it turned out. I was initially going to write something a lot longer, but figured this ending was more appropriate since it tied the entire collection, however brief it was, together. Now that it's done, I can finally get to another Ange & Asmodeus one-shot before moving on to longer projects that are much bigger than these one-shots—including getting more work done on the three I already started. I hope you enjoyed reading this collection as much as I enjoyed writing it; it was fun writing **_I Can't_**, and I'm glad it turned out to be a great project.**


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